


Concrete Angel

by shoyousugar



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Cheating, Drug Use, Exes, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Los Angeles AU, Prison, Romance, Sexual Content, Swearing, Trauma, dudes it’s gonna be wild, im sorry, mentions of abuse, past trauma, there’s spice i’m an aries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:33:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 71,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoyousugar/pseuds/shoyousugar
Summary: Blake Belladonna is twenty-five and admittedly unhappy with her life in LA with her fiancé Sun.But one night at work she meets a familiar blonde from her past that she just can’t seem to say no to and her life starts to change all over again.
Relationships: Background Ships - Relationship, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 89
Kudos: 259





	1. Gold Like The LA Sun

**3 Years Ago**

“We’ve got to break up-“

“Yang, I _still_ don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” Blake sobbed. She was crying, had been for around twenty minutes now. “Did I do something?” She asked, amber eyes begging for some sort of explanation. It had all been so sudden. Their weekend had started how it usually had, Blake going over to Yang’s apartment so they could spend time together. That time should’ve been filled with food, movies, sex and cuddles, not whatever this was.

“Blake, it’s not you-“ 

“Oh, it’s not _me_ it’s _you_ ,” Blake spat, laughing through a broken sob as she placed the palm of her hand into her face. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Dating for three years and this was how it ended. _For no fucking reason_. “Did you just google how to break up with someone, or something?”

“Blake I’m going to jail.”

They both paused, Yang’s throat bobbing as she gulped. Blake’s heart somehow dropped down further, was convinced it fallen through her and onto the floor. But she didn’t have the sense to search for it, scared that if she looked away Yang would be gone already. She wiped the tears from her face, barely acknowledging the ruined mascara. She let out a shaky sigh.

“How... just _how_?” She asked, sitting down on the edge of the sofa. Blake realised that this could very well be her last time inside of this apartment. This apartment she called home. “I-I don’t know, I’m getting pinned for something my mom did-“

“Yang, _please_ tell me you didn’t-“

“No! _No_ , of course not. But they’re claiming it was me in the footage and not her...” Yang sighed, running a hand through her hair as she turned away to face the wall. “It’s a mess.” It was. Blake gently grabbed Yang’s hand, tugging on it until she turned to face her. She smiled and wondered how it must look to Yang; mascara streaming down her face, glassy eyes and a forced, toothy smile to make them both feel better.

“It’ll be fine though, _right_? We don’t have to break up- I can wait for you,” she said, fingers splayed on Yang’s forearm as she trailed up to her shoulder. The blonde shook her head. “I’m not asking you to do that. I don’t even know how long I’m going in for,” Yang says, her words bordering on a whisper. They were both about to cry again, for a different reason now at least.

“I still want to wait. I can visit and call... Yang, _please_.”

Yang eyed her sceptically, debating all of the options in her head. But she finally relented and agreed to what Blake was proposing. 

* * *

** The Present Day **

Blake fiddled with the ring on her finger, frowning at the expensive rock attached to it. It had been days since she got engaged, but it didn’t mean it felt right. She had agreed out of pity, mostly. Not wanting to embarrass her boyfriend in front of a restaurant full of people, she had acted all giddy and like she was excited. But in her head she was still stuck on three years ago, stuck on Yang. 

After she went to prison, Blake had been the one to propose that they keep their relationship going. Because she thought she could handle that. She visited every weekend, answered whenever Yang called. But it began to get too much. It was a few times in a row where Yang would sit across from her with a fresh cut or bruise that made her stomach churn. Once or twice when they had been on the phone and there had been yelling in the background that made her fear for her girlfriend. 

The fear was unnecessary, she knew that. She had seen Yang knock a guy out with a single punch in college. But that fear got the best of her; it became too much for too long. Yang understood, she thought, and they broke it off again. Yet Blake still felt like she abandoned her. 

Her boyfriend (she supposed she should say fiancé now but she wouldn’t), Sun, he was... nice. She met him not long after she had broken up with Yang. Her friend Weiss had taken her to a party, then ensued the classic tale of modern romance: Blake slept with Sun and he wouldn’t stop texting her after that. ‘ _Pure poetry,_ ’ she thought dryly. But he was nice. Handsome, not the brightest but not a total idiot. She had to laugh at the thought of her dad still not liking him even after all of these years.

And... to an extent she wasn’t about to say out loud. Not after just getting engaged anyway. Blake wasn’t all too fond of him anymore either. But she would acquiesce until a later date when she knew what she was doing. She sighed at the thought of how dull her life was now. Twenty-five and working at some dingy karaoke bar in Santa Monica, with a degree in literature that she could do nothing with apparently. She supposed that was her own fault though, cursed with writers block for years on end. And she didn’t exactly hate her job either, her friend Velvet was the manager so she could get away with a lot.

So, _yeah_ , Blake was sitting here in her nice little home in West Hollywood, complaining about her life. _Again_.

“What time have you got work at?” Sun yelled from somewhere in the house. Blake couldn’t always tell where he was, the house was big and echoey. She questioned why they needed three bedrooms but then remembered that Neptune stayed here when he was drunk, which was often. “Velv texted saying I start at seven, Weiss is singing tonight,” she yelled back, informing him of all of the goings on. He loved being in on the fun, so she indulged him.

“Aw, so no chance we could grab dinner together?” Sun said, emerging from the hallway and into the living room where Blake sat. Their house was nice. But Blake was constantly reminded that it wasn’t her house when the matter of decorating came up. She was just a freeloader in Sun’s home - although he had tried to express many times that she wasn’t - that was the case. But, she digressed. He compromised and let her choose everything but the colour of the walls, which were now painted a warm shade of yellow.

“Unfortunately, no. We can still eat together here though,” she proposed, her voice pitching higher at the end to give off that hopeful glint of a good idea. Sun nodded and pouted at her, saying, “But I wanted to take you out for dinner.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes, turning back to her laptop. “You just spent four grand on a ring, I don’t trust you with money.”

“Well that hardly makes a difference, you don’t even trust me with the tv remote!” He cackled and she couldn’t disagree with him there. “No wonder, last time you made us watch a documentary on penguins,” she giggled, idly scrolling through her Instagram and seeing nothing of importance. Sun groaned and flopped against the arm of the chair.

“It was good! It was educational!”

“It was _boring_ is what it was. I’d rather a real movie as opposed to watching eggs hatch,” Blake grinned, showing there was no malice behind her words. Sun rolled his eyes and reached for his phone. “What? I’m a lover of the arts, sue me.” No words were needed to catch onto Sun’s now uninterested mood. This was how it usually went. When he was on the losing side of the banter war, he lost interest. Childish, yet cute in its own way. Or it used to be until it got old. 

She supposed that was one of their problems; he was uninterested. If Sun didn’t understand what she was talking about or just didn’t like it, he would quickly change the subject. Which, more often than not, left long bouts of silence between them. Blake kept holding off, hoping one day it would change. But three years later and they were still the same. Maybe they were incompatible. “Check your star signs!” She could hear Weiss screaming in her head.

Recently, Blake had realised that their relationship wasn’t... _great_. As in she barely wanted to be in it anymore. Getting engaged was just a punch to the gut. Sun was _so_ happy about it, thought he was great doing this big gesture in front of everyone at some fancy restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard. Extravagant... and heart wrenching. Because she couldn’t turn him down. Then she knew if they went home and she burst his happy little bubble that he would be devastated.

So, to spare everyone’s feelings, here she still was. Which Weiss reminded her was a bad idea because they both knew that the multiple times she had threatened Sun with ‘step up or I’ll cheat on you’ wasn’t baseless. And Weiss also had to repeatedly remind her that doing that would be a stupid mistake that she would regret the next morning like every other person.

But then again, after saying those things to him, Sun would continue to do _fuck all_ about it. All Blake asked for was a conversation that she was interested in. But instead she got stories about what Neptune was doing today or complaints about how work was kicking his ass (“Didn’t know electricians used their ass at work,” she had quipped one day. He didn’t like that one). Then he would fall asleep and that was the end of it. She sighed, pouting at her laptop as she thought about it. Yang wouldn’t have been like this... she supposed this was karma for leaving her.

Blake mentally smacked herself in the face for being so horrible. No matter how much she was bored of this relationship, she shouldn’t be thinking those types of things. But she also couldn’t help it. Only twenty-five and she was just _content_ \- why couldn’t she be happy like everybody else? Either that or she could just continue smoking weed and hope her problems go away, but that also hadn’t been working thus far.

Sun chuckled at his phone, kicking his feet up onto the table. She was only grateful that he didn’t have his work boots on or else she might have snapped at the sight of dirt falling down off of his boots. “Some dude got Sage to tattoo his ass with the ‘cool’ emoji,” he said, twisting his phone so Blake could see the photo. Disturbing yet hilarious, she chuckled at it then went back to doing... nothing.

There were good things about Sun, occasionally. She enjoyed his humour and how nice he was, he also tried to include her in his stupid jokes. But on the flip side she was also the butt of his jokes a lot when they were alone. There was no harm in them, she knew that it was just banter between them. But, again, he would always go into a bad mood if she made a joke back. Then every time she tried to put a little bit of spark back in their relationship it was shrugged off, treated like it could wait until he had his beauty sleep.

Once again, she felt terrible for thinking all of that when he was literally a foot away from her. But... what else could she do? Work, eat, sleep, speak five sentences to Sun. That was her everyday life and it was as boring as anything. The only way out would be if someone whisked her off to some foreign land but there was a fat chance of that happening. Blake might even settle for someone who was more attentive - again an _awful_ thought - but she seriously couldn’t help it! 

“I think I’ll just crash at Velvet’s tonight after I finish my shift, I’ve barely saw her recently,” Blake said, mostly just thinking out loud. Sun hummed in response, saying, “That’s cool, I’ll just see you in the morning then.” 

And it came off as so uncaring that she wondered why she cared in the first place. 

* * *

**[Weiss: 18:23]** I’m outside. 

**[Weiss: 18:25]** Move your ass Belladonna. 

**[Blake: 18:25]** i’m coming, chill. 

Her front door slammed shut behind her. She hadn’t meant to slam it, but she was just about done with this life of hers. Just when she thought thing’s couldn’t get any worse, she couldn’t find a moment alone to text Velvet and ask if she could crash at her apartment. Because doing that; not staying in her own house with her boyfriend, it made her feel guilty. Especially when Sun was _everywhere_. 

Sure, it was his house. Plus being in a relationship and living together factored into that. But his things were everywhere, his smell, his zany laugh reverberating throughout the house; all of that made it difficult for her to want to leave. But she also just didn’t want to do what she did to Yang... if she could take that back she would.

Blake popped open the car door and slid into the passenger seat, soaking in the lovely atmosphere of silence and Weiss’ perfume. “What’s up with your face?” Weiss asked and that was about as nice of a greeting as she could have expected. “I only have mascara on-“

“No, I mean, why do you look sad?”

The car kicked into gear and they began to drive. Blake shook her head and rolled her eyes, she knew Weiss must be tired of hearing about her woes. “Just sick of everything,” she says as she glances to her hand again, sighing at the sight of her ring. Weiss mumbled something in German (she was German, did she not mention?), her nails tapping off of the steering wheel as she waited in the traffic. “I don’t know why you don’t just break up with him. I told you that you can stay with me until you get your own place.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Sure it is. You go home and say “Sun, let’s talk-“”

“See, _no_.” Blake flicked her wrist, hand gestures at the ready to explain why that wouldn’t work. “He would get freaked out by that and then he would be defensive. I _literally_ can’t speak to him then.”

“Yeah, but he gets all sappy about it like five minutes later because he didn’t mean it,” Weiss said as she glared at someone who drove in front of her. “I guess,” Blake said, “But I want him to care _all the time_ , not five minutes later when he’s actually thought about it.”

“You’re getting harsher.”

“And?”

“It’s not a good thing.” Weiss laughed dryly, glancing at her mirrors to check if she was alright to turn into another street. Blake raised an eyebrow. It was a strange thing, being called harsh by who she considered to be the queen of mean. That was a lie, Weiss was actually one of the kindest people she knew. “I wish I was twenty and still in college.” A sentence Blake never thought she’d say until her life was somehow worse to cope with than her exams.

Weiss side eyed her, knowing there was a deeper meaning there that she would ignore. Because there was nothing they could do to change what had happened in the end, they were just stuck in the aftermath.

“Velvet’s girlfriend’s coming tonight.” Weiss smiled, flicking her eyebrows at Blake. She was thankful for the change of conversation. “Oh yeah? I heard from Jaune that she was some ladykiller.” Blake laughed, thinking of how drastically different that personality would be contrasting with Velvet’s.

“Well, Velvet seems to really like her.”

“Yeah, good for her. Jaune was showing me some photos of her when we did our book swap-“

“”Book swap”. _Jesus, kill me_.”

“Shut up! I’m a writer, I read too y’know.”

“A writer? When was the last time you _wrote_ anything.”

“I...” Three years. She hadn’t written anything in three years. Small drafts, projects on and off. She had sent them to Weiss then scrapped them immediately. Weiss didn’t know that though. “Screw you.” 

* * *

The bar hadn’t been as crowded as she expected it to be that night. Blake was still glad she had the sense to pull her hair back into a ponytail before she got caught up in running around serving drinks. Velvet had graciously let her stay behind the bar tonight, which was probably just an excuse for Velvet to go and see her girlfriend as she was serving drinks. 

Blake still hadn’t seen her yet. She knew who she was. Coco Adel; tall brunette with confidence that she could back up. So Blake knew off anyway. They were tucked away in a booth near the other side of the room, near the stage that Weiss was perched on. A lot of song requests had came in for her tonight, which was great. It meant Weiss might be getting somewhere.

She looked ethereal on the stage in her simple black biker jacket, Doc Martin’s & jeans combo. Blake would make a comment and say she looked like a goth (not that she was one to talk) but there was no way she would take any of these moments away from Weiss. They were special, a freedom to sing her own tune as opposed to in the past when she could only sing what was permitted by her father.

Blake admired how Weiss could stick her middle finger up to her father; one of Germany’s richest men. Then come to LA to try and make it on her own. Not only that, but she was succeeding! People would look up to her if they knew who she was, Blake thought. Gaining a moment’s respite from people appearing for drinks, she slipped her ring into her back pocket so she could wash the glasses.

A dangerous move, she knew, but she also didn’t want to get it dirty. The sight of that ring might have given her a mid life crisis, but it still didn’t deserve to be battered with water and glass in a dirty sink. Plus the bar was pretty dead tonight, she could always just slip it back on. 

“Excuse me?”

Blake knew that voice. Hadn’t heard it in a long time but she knew that voice. Her head shot up and she genuinely couldn’t believe her eyes. Yang stood at the other side of the bar, flashing a watery smile at her. And she looked great! Her biceps were toned under her t-shirt, her skin was still as tanned as Blake remembered, hair still looking soft to the touch. Blake thought she was about to cry; thought Yang was about to cry with her. Yang wasn’t supposed to be here, not for another few years anyway.

“Yang, oh my god!” Blake was immediately moving to reach over the bar, trying her best to hug her despite the barrier between them. Although the tile was pressing into her stomach and was extremely uncomfortable, her hands still found purchase wrapped around Yang’s neck. Yang laughed as she was pulled forward, willingly wrapping her arms around Blake as well. “And here I thought you wouldn’t miss me,” Yang said.

“Don’t be stupid, of course I missed you.”

It should’ve been awkward. Maybe even a little uncomfortable. But it wasn’t. It felt like coming home, a safe and familiar environment that made her feel happy. Something she had been missing for _far too long_. She pulled back, her hands still lingering on Yang’s shoulders, not wanting to let go again. Because it had been a mistake, one she thought Yang wouldn’t forgive her of. Maybe she still hadn’t, but then again, she was here.

“Uh... I didn’t want to take you away from your job-“

“No, it’s fine. Just come around to this side of the bar,” Blake said, ushering her around. The blonde did as she asked, coming to the other side of the bar, leaning against it with Blake. She smiled again, soft and sure. “So, h-how’re you here?” Blake asked, eyes skipping over Yang’s physique. She hated everything right now. Hated that Yang was here, that she looked gorgeous and just wanted to be with her. But there was the problem of that she couldn’t.

“I’m friends with Coco and she invited me to come tonight. Then I saw you-“

“No, I meant, _how_ are you out,” Blake said through a broken laugh. Classic Yang of her to misunderstand. She raised both of her eyebrows and bashfully scratched the back of her head. “I’m surprised you don’t know. I got found innocent-“

“ _Really_?!”

“Yeah. Ruby’s new girlfriend has family that are cops. She pulled some strings and they reopened the case. Now, _here I am_ ,” Yang said, grinning and out stretching her arms. Blake wanted to fall into them. “Plus the state had to compensate me a hundred-thousand dollars because, _y’know_ , miscarriage of justice and all.”

“I just can’t believe you’re out...” Blake said. She was truly in disbelief. Nothing could hold a candle to what she was feeling right now. And _the relief_ that washed over her when - from what she could see - there were no scars littering her skin. “I didn’t think I’d see you again,” she admitted, feeling tears prick at her eyes at the sudden realisation that she got to see Yang again. That she still could.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again.” Yang chuckled, the pads of her fingers pressing against the bar as she took a step closer to Blake, pushing her boundaries. “The closest I got was that picture of us from Pyrrha’s twenty-first.”

“The one where Jaune was throwing up in the background.” Blake smiled, knowing she was right, she still had that photo in a frame. Not displayed, but she still had it. Yang nodded and smiled back, taking another step closer; Blake wasn’t pushing her away. “I kept that photo on the wall next to my bunk, blew it a little kiss everyday.”

“Shut up.”

“I did! My cell mates called me crazy. But to be fair one of them was in there for stalking her ex so I don’t know who was crazier.” They both chuckled at that. Blake glanced around the bar and heard a guy ask for a few beers. She followed through with that order then turned back to Yang, confident that there were no customers waiting for her.

“Weiss is still awesome at singing,” Yang says as she starts this game of chicken by stepping towards Blake again. They used to do it to each other all the time. Pushing each other’s boundaries but never stepping past, always somehow knowing where to draw the line. But then there were times where it was like a game of cat and mouse; both participants enthralled by the chase of each other. It never got boring.

“She’s doing pretty well for herself... she keeps getting hired for weddings.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Blake said. She allowed Yang’s hand to brush along the small of her back. Because she liked it. Really, and she wasn’t afraid to admit that. It felt right after being wrong for so long. “I always knew Weiss was one of those mushy gals who enjoyed wedding’s.” They both laughed again and it slipped out easily.

“What was it like... being in prison,” Blake asked. There was a genuine concern she didn’t know whether or not to express. Wanted to ask ‘did someone hurt you?’ just so she could spite them for doing so. “It was hard... Ruby called a lot. Her and Pyrrha came a couple times. After a while they just... don’t have the time to do that, I guess.” Yang sighed.

Blake’s heart broke. A large part of her wishes that she stuck through it, wishes that she was there for Yang when she needed her. She really should have been. Yang was and... well, she still is the-

“I don’t blame you for breaking up with me... just so you know.” The blonde’s throat bobbed, her nerves finally showing through. “I didn’t want you to wait around for me either, so I’m kind of glad you wanted to go move on...” There was an question hanging in the air. Something unsaid that Yang was trying to ask. Blake knew what she was asking, but wanted to hear it out loud first. Wanted to know before she made any decisions here.

“So, did you?”

“Did I what, Yang?”

“Did you move on? Y’know, get someone new?”

She did. But that relationship was a mess, a carcass of what was formerly fun and loving. Where they should’ve evolved they stayed the same and where things should have stayed the same they changed. Yet, _somehow_ , Blake knew it would all be different with Yang.

“I didn’t,” Blake said, lying through her teeth. “I kept thinking about you.” This part wasn’t a lie; sad but true. She felt awful admitting that she had thought about Yang more than once in bed. The blonde smirked, dark and sinister. She knew what she was doing. They both did. Yet Blake didn’t want to do a thing to stop this.

Blake carefully slipped the ring in her back pocket to the front pocket of her jeans, where it wouldn’t be felt if Yang touched her. She knew what she was doing, and was sure about it. Yang’s hands slid onto her waist, sliding up and down her side as she leaned closer to Blake. She was so close that Blake could smell the booze from her lips, even the lemon aftershave she still wore. Yang was watching how her hands could frame Blake’s hips and there was a deep rumble of a growl in her throat, she grew possessive now.

Blake was screwed. Wanted to be screwed. And wasn’t regretting it thus far.

“I thought about you, too,” Yang whispered, her voice barely audible over Weiss’ singing. Blake was grateful that the bar was empty because she wanted to see where this was going. Hoped it was going where she now wanted it to. “Thought about you everyday, every night, every time I got five minutes alone.” Yang was right next to Blake’s ear and she was grateful that no one else could hear.

“What did you think about?” She asked, shivers being sent down her spine when Yang dug her fingers into Blake’s hips, a fire lit inside of her that had been long since extinguished. “All of the kinky shit you’re into and how hot it is.” Blake hummed, trying to only sound satisfied by that answer when in reality she was _elated_. She wondered if Weiss was looking at her, wondered what she must be thinking right now.

“Is that what you came here for tonight? To get laid.” Blake chuckled, sighing when Yang kissed along her cheek bone. “You caught me,” Yang said, chuckling lowly as she continued kissing her way down to Blake’s lips. She closed her eyes and sank into it, enjoying the feeling of Yang’s lips against hers as they kissed. So soft and skilful. It was like the first drop of water after a long drought; she needed it.

“So you’ll come home with me tonight? Or have I not played my cards right.”

Blake paused in her mind to consider what she was doing. On one hand she knew this was wrong, morally. On the other it felt right and she wanted this. But she also didn’t want to lose Yang for a second time. They couldn’t be friends. They had never been friends, always had that spark that apparently never died.

“Yeah, my shift finishes at two.” 


	2. Way Down

Waking up the next morning, Blake felt positively sore, her body feeling like it had just been hit by a train. She revelled in the recollection of the night before; Yang’s lips trailing over her body, burning kisses that made her toes curl, rough hands leaving imprints, promising to reclaim long lost territory. The alcohol had been a bad idea, she was now discovering that. But it was fine, she had a great night. And, despite what Weiss might claim, she didn’t regret a thing.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist, tugging her further into the bed. She smiled to herself, her hand instinctively moving to hold the one belonging to the arm that had curled around her. Yang apparently had that same instinct, stretching out her fingers for Blake to slot their hands together. Sun didn’t cuddle when they slept, he lay on his stomach and hugged his pillow, legs sprawled across the bed like a spider.

Yang nuzzled her way through Blake’s hair with her nose, pressing a few kisses along the back of her neck and trailing to just below her ear. “Mornin’ gorgeous,” Yang whispered, the compliment making Blake giggle. She hadn’t woken up to one of those in a while, she liked it. Blake’s hand trailed up along Yang’s leg, nails lightly scratching the skin as she went along her arm, before finally stopping on Yang’s cheek. Keeping her right where she was.

“Morning...” she murmured, head turning slightly to face Yang. The blonde smiled and greeted her with a chaste kiss, tightening her grip around Blake’s waist in an attempt to pull her even closer. “When did you wake up?” Blake asked, twisting on to her back so she could be comfier. Yang grunted as she reluctantly pulled her arm back from Blake, using it to hold herself up as she tapped on her phone. 

“About two hours.”

“What time’s it?”

“It’s only eight,” Yang said, flopping onto her back and pulling her arms behind her head. Blake furrowed her brow, concern kicking in. If she knew Yang, and Blake was sure she did, she had never been a morning person. _Despised mornings_. She remembered when they were going to a relative’s wedding and the struggle to get Yang up out of bed that morning. Yang rolled her head onto her shoulders, smirking at Blake’s concern. 

“The guards would wake us up at five-thirty, so waking up at six is actually the best sleep I’ve had in a while,” she said and that didn’t make Blake feel any better. “When did you even get out?” She asked, realising she had no clue when Yang got out of prison at all. “Couple months ago, it was... _weird_.”

“How?”

“I had to stay with Ruby and her girlfriend for a few weeks then uncle Qrow moved me in here.” Blake hummed, her fingers dancing along Yang’s collarbone as she listened to her. This wasn’t the same apartment Yang used to have. No, it was a nice little one bedroom, studio apartment. It was also only a ten minute walk from the bar she worked at, which was a crazy coincidence.

Weird to think that, for months, Yang was only ten minutes away instead of ten years. 

But the apartment was nice. Quite small but it was cozy. Or what Blake took in of it anyway, she was preoccupied by Yang’s lips pampering her skin and the burn of alcohol going down her throat. Very under decorated though. Like she had just moved in and accepted this was where she stayed now. Which was probably true as her fridge was empty and the bin was filled with takeaway boxes. Maybe she had observed more than she thought.

“Where’d Qrow get the cash?” Blake chuckled. She didn’t mean any offence, Yang knew that judging by the tiny laugh she let out. The blonde pursed her lips, closing her eyes as she sighed through her nose. “My mom gave him the money... a few hundred thousand into his account then took off.” she said. Blake paused, her fingers stilling against Yang’s neck, feeling her pulse race.

“Yang-“

“Don’t say you told me so.” She sighed again, eyes shut tight. Blake drew tiny circles down her chest, pressing a few kisses along the trail of goosebumps she had created with her fingers. “ _I was gonna say,_ that I’m sorry that happened,” she spoke softly, hand pushing down onto Yang’s chest as she hoisted herself up. Shifting under the covers, she straddled Yang’s waist, shivering at how sensitive she still was from the night before.

She was aware how exposed she was, sitting fully nude on top of Yang. But it wasn’t weird, no, they’d been here a million times before. Yang’s face straightened, chest slowly rising and falling as her breathing shallowed out. Her eyes raked over Blake, arms still remaining behind her head. Blake knew what that meant. That she had control; she was being given all of the power in this situation. It was a feeling that really went straight to her heart. 

The blonde grinned lazily, relaxing into the pillows behind her. “Maybe I should go to prison more often, things seem have worked out well for me,” she says, drawing a laugh from Blake. Deciding what to do with the power she had been given, the raven haired girl rested herself on top of Yang, choosing that she valued the heat more than however good of a view Yang was getting. “I would prefer if you didn’t go to jail.” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah...”

“You did get shredded whilst you were in there though.” They both laughed. Blake dragged a hand along the other girls abs, trailing over to the side so she could feel her ribs. “Not to toot my own horn, but I’m no more muscular than I was before,” Yang chuckled and Blake hummed in agreement. There was a difference now though. Something hardened that made all of that muscle seem like more than what it was. She might’ve just been imagining things though.

Propping the pillows up behind her and bracing her hands on the bedsheets, Yang pulled herself to sit upright. Blake smiled when she reached down to pull Blake up with her, hand weaving through her hair. She had to bite back a smile at how Yang had sat up so Blake could be comfier resting against her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the feeling of Yang’s hands gently massaging her flesh. Her hands might be calloused, but they were the softest she had ever felt.

“Have you got anywhere to be today?” Yang questioned. Blake debated the question in her head. She could stay here for the rest of day, maybe even again to the next morning. Might even help make her decision about leaving her fiancé that much easier. But then there was the problem of Sun probably calling at some point. What an issue she had made for herself by not telling Yang.

“I’ve got some stuff to do with Weiss...” she studied Yang’s face and found disheartenment in it. God, she just couldn’t say no to her. Not that she wanted to either, Blake wished she could lie here forever. “I can come back later though.” Her voice pitched up at the end, eyebrows raised at Yang.

“I’ll only allow you back if you cook us dinner.” Blake chuckled slightly, recoiling her head and narrowing her eyes at Yang. “ _Seriously_?”

“Yeah, I miss when you used to cook dinner for us.”

“That’s really cute.”

“So, is that a yes?”

“Definitely.”

* * *

Weiss came to pick her up a few hours later. Looking extremely amused as Blake tried to fix her hair in the rear view mirror. She had had a great morning, a great night, the best in a while actually. She felt amazing. Blake patted her pocket to make sure her ring was there; it was. It was fine if she left anything else, she was coming back later. 

“I can’t believe you did that,” Weiss said, not looking at her as she began to drive. Blake shrugged, partly uncaring. “I had a good time,” she said, calmly leaning back in her seat. It was fine acting calm, but she felt awful on the inside. Vaguely guilty about going home then leaving again later. But then again, Sun hadn’t so much as sent her a text to see what she was doing. It was almost one!

“I’m sort of glad you did it,” Weiss said, and Blake was admittedly very taken aback by it.

“Why?”

“Because... because it’s _Yang_. I don’t have much else to say, in my mind she’s just always going to be your girlfriend.”

Blake couldn’t argue with that. Because in her own mind _she_ was still her girlfriend. _Fuck_ , in her own mind Sun was a distant memory by this point which was awful. It was strange how they just clicked back into place, intrinsic, picking up right where they left off as if nothing had happened. They had a lot to talk about, which was why majority of her kept wanting to go back, seeking answers and the comfort she found in Yang... When did Blake become so terrible?

She glanced over at Weiss, who smiled shyly at her, Blake smiled back. They disagreed a lot but they understood each other. More than anyone really. Which was why they were such good friends; they understood and accepted each other.

“I kissed Pyrrha last night.”

“Oh? What made you finally do it.”

“Well, I was about to go get a drink then I saw you were a little busy. And by that I mean your tongue was down Yang’s throat-“

“Okay, _asshole_ , just continue your story.”

“There’s nothing to tell. We were just talking then it happened. We left and met Ruby, it was good seeing her again,” Weiss said wistfully. Weiss and Ruby had been really close a few years ago, until Weiss tried to ask out Ruby then discovered that Ruby was asexual. It was fine, they stayed good friends. They all did. Until Ruby left to finish her engineering course in Pasadena. She didn’t talk to them much after that.

“So what happened?” Blake asked and Weiss chuckled slightly. “We ended up in an IHOP at five in the morning talking about how Pyrrha found being a PE teacher to be the best _and_ worst job ever.” Blake chuckled, she could see it. Could see herself getting sick of the bitchy kids but also loving the ones who were genuinely passionate about sports. She was sure Pyrrha must be encouraging the passionate ones.

“You’re gonna have to tell Sun about what happened,” Weiss said and Blake knew she was right. But she couldn’t do that right now, there was too much going on. Her mind was still reeling from all of the thoughts and feelings she’d had in the last few hours. Her body still recovering from being touched in a way she had been craving for far too long. Her heart felt like it was going to burst, her mind was overflowing and she was scared that her thoughts might spill out through her mouth.

“Not right now...” she simply replied. Weiss hummed, not approving or disagreeing. Just acknowledging her decision. “Want to go shopping with me? I’ve got to pick up a few things,” Weiss said with a sigh. It must be work related if she sounds that bummed about it.

“On the condition that we don’t go back into that store with the shitty clerk.”

“ _Definitely_. Never going there again.”

“Hated that guy.”

“Komplettes arschloch.” (Complete asshole.)

“ _Agreed_.”

* * *

There was a regret about coming home as soon as she stepped through the front door. Because now her own home smelt foreign to her after spending a few hours wholly soaking in Yang’s apartment. She was racked with guilt as soon as she passed by the collection of Sun’s jackets near the door.

So, maybe she wasn’t as thick skinned as she thought she was.

To be fair, she just wasn’t heartless. Sun had tried to be good to her but failed in providing all of the things she actually needed. Like attention. Or just... _anything_ that involved her interests. Actually, she was beginning to feel less guilty now. Almost as if he should’ve saw this coming.

No, that was cruel. What happened (and was still happening but she would rather be in denial as she ranted) wasn’t his fault. It had been her actions, her choice. She wasn’t about to be one of those people that stood here and said: “You drove me to it.” She knew all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of that sentence.

Blake limped into the kitchen, looking over at where Sun sat at their dining table. He seemed engrossed in some YouTube video. She had to chuckle at how he was sat in his boxers with a bowl of cereal, completely content to sit like that despite today not being the warmest. He must have heard her laugh as he snapped his head back to look at her, both eyebrows raised up into his hairline as he crunched on his cereal.

“Enjoying yourself?” Blake asked, smirking and running a hand through her hair. It was soft and it smelled like Yang after showering there. Sun hummed and wiped his mouth with his thumb, pausing the video that had been playing. “Hey, you’re not staying at Velvet’s?” He asked, shifting in the chair so he could look over at her. She wondered if he could see the guilt on her face, wondered if he could sense that someone had marked what should’ve been his.

‘ _If you would’ve called me, you would know if I was staying at Velvet’s_ ,’ she thought dryly. Also, what an _odd_ assumption of him to make. “I’m just coming back to get changed...” she paused to give herself a moment to think of an excuse. Not an excuse, _a lie,_ she corrected. “I’m gonna stay at Weiss’ later. I want her to look over my drafts.” Not entirely a lie. She would be staying at Yang’s, but she would still take her laptop so that she could show her all of the unfinished drafts that had accumulated over the years.

“Dude, check this out!”

Neptune was suddenly skidding into the kitchen, also only in his boxers. It wasn’t an uncommon thing around the house, he stayed over a lot. She didn’t blame him. Their house was a lot more peaceful than his, what with Neptune living with three other people in a two bedroom apartment. _How_ they even made that work she should never know.

“Oh, hey Blake...” Neptune said, awkwardly waddling past her. “Hey. What’d you guys get up to last night?”

“What?” Sun blinked, seemingly trying to get his attention back to Blake after looking at the video Neptune had pulled up on his phone. “Oh, nothing. We were just hanging out, watching shit online,” Sun said, grinning as he threw a thumb towards his laptop. Blake hummed, smiling in amusement by their antics. She knew there must have been more to it, the room was saturated with the smell of marijuana. 

There was the familiar sound of their washing machine spinning. Which shouldn’t have been seeing as Sun had no clue how to wash his own clothes. She took a few steps over to their washroom and, lo and behold, there were clothes being washed in there. Maybe he was learning. _Hopefully_ he was learning.

Deciding to leave the boys to... whatever the hell they were doing, Blake sprang upstairs. She ended up going to lie in their guest room, which practically looked like it had never been slept in, what with how clean it was. She whipped out her phone that had been buzzing in her pocket, giddy when she saw Yang’s name light up above the texts. 

** [Yang: 15:47]  **

263.jpeg

** [Yang: 15:47]  **

Got da fridge stocked up for us ;) 

Blake chuckled at the mass amounts of food that she had bought. They would most likely have to throw most of it out, unless Blake was about to end up making her dinner every night this week. Which didn’t sound half bad actually. 

** [Blake: 15:49] **

seems a little excessive. 

** [Yang: 15:49]  **

Babe excessive isn’t enuff for u

The use of ‘babe’ shouldn’t have made her heart flutter, but it did. It made her think back to all the times where Blake would answer the phone and a cheerful Yang would bellow “Hey babe!” She had always liked it, as generic as it was. Might’ve just liked it because it came from Yang’s mouth, her voice filtering it into something lovely. There was always a sun inside of Yang that shone across everything, bringing light to what should have been a dark time.

Where there had been broken glass and cracked walls for a time; Yang had appeared with a broken arm and a winning smile in hopes of making the pain go away. 

** [Yang: 15:50] **

Rubes was rlly happy abt seeing Weiss again

The mention of Yang speaking to her sister made Blake’s stomach churn. A feeling washing over her as if she was about to vomit. She didn’t like the thought of Ruby knowing that they were together, because she knew Ruby. Well, knew that she would be quick to look into Blake again and would most definitely find something. They had once cracked a joke about how Ruby does a full criminal background check on all of her friends; it wasn’t really a joke. 

** [Blake: 15:50]  **

how is ruby? 

** [Yang: 15:51] **

Ruby’s good, she’s rlly enjoying working at the garage w/ me rn

** [Blake: 15:51]  **

when do you work? 

** [Yang: 15:51]  **

Start back on Monday. I work from 9-7 from Monday-Thursday. Wbu?

** [Blake: 15:53] **

five days working from 5-3 then i get 3 days off, it’s pretty decent. this is my weekend off. 

She already regretted telling Yang that. 

** [Yang: 15:53]  **

So I get u all wknd then? ;) 

** [Blake: 15:53]  **

debatable. 

A thud came from the hallway, then the distant sound of Sun spewing profanities. She furrowed her brow, pocketing her phone as she moved to the doorway. Sun was down the hall and hopping into the room which they had dubbed as ‘Blake’s office’. The only thing that made it hers was the fact that she was the only person who used that room and had taken to storing some of her things in there.

“What are you doing?” Blake asked, following him down the hallway and into her office. Sun held up a finger, gesturing for her to give him a minute whilst he searched through one of the drawers. “ _Shit_...” he mumbled and scratched his head with the zippo lighter she knew to be her own. Something flared inside of her at the sight of him using it. Didn’t know if it was guilt or shame or _hate_.

Because Yang had bought her it as a gift years ago, engraved with the quote “why the doormat?”, an inside joke between the two of them. Seeing Sun use it just... riled her. Like it was sacred and he shouldn’t be touching it. But then she felt awful for thinking that because she had just slept with another woman and waltzed back in here like it was normal.

The blonde boy chuckled awkwardly as he placed the lighter back in the drawer. “Uh... we _kinda_ smoked all your weed,” he laughed, closing the drawer and standing up.

Blake took it all back, she wanted to strangle him. Knew she shouldn’t want to, but that was besides the point. She draw small circles in her palm, willing herself not to snap at the inconvenience. It was fine, she could just get more of it. It wasn’t like she used it all that much anyway, just when she was stressed out. But it was still annoying that he had used it all. 

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, puffing out a sigh. Blake reasoned that she was only human, even if she wasn’t allowed to be annoyed right now. She reached down and reopened the drawer, reclaiming her lighter before anymore damage could be done to it. “I’m gonna grab my laptop and takeoff soon.”

“Cool, I’ll see you later!” He grinned, gently squeezing her arm as he passed by. Her muscles tensed under his touch, not liking how his skin felt against hers anymore. She hadn’t for a while, this was just the realisation setting in. 

* * *

Blake drove back to Yang’s apartment an hour later, Yang ushering her into one of the building’s private parking spots. She felt more at ease now she was back here, her house beginning to get too much for her as Sun and Neptune made theirselves at home in the living room. 

Yang had grabbed the backpack containing her laptop and a few other things, holding the door open and smiling as Blake walked through. It was nice. She really liked all of the attention and all of the willingness to do things for her. Some might call it selfish, the way she was screwing around with someone because they ‘treated her better.’ The definition of that sentence may vary from person to person, but Blake valued a certain kind of attention that Sun didn’t give her. 

“How’s Weiss? I didn’t get the chance to talk to her at the bar last night,” Yang said as she closed the door behind them. The apartment smelt fresh, like it had just been cleaned. Or maybe it was just because the balcony door was lying open to let the air in. “I remember you told me about her getting a ton of gigs lately.”

“Yeah, she’s doing pretty well for herself.” 

“Does she still have a thing for Pyrrha or is she past that?” 

“No, she still has a thing for her.” Blake laughed, immediately swinging around into the kitchen area to open the fridge. Weiss held a candle for Pyrrha for years, at this point the wax had spilled down over her hand and burned her, dripping onto the floor yet she still waited patiently. Weiss was a lot of things, one of them being patient. Despite it killing her to see Pyrrha dating Jaune for a while, despite having to suffer through the aftermath of that breakup. She was still patient.

Blake admired that.

“How’s that working out for her?” Yang asked, tying her hair back before coming to lean against the countertop. “I think they’re finally getting somewhere,” Blake said, rifling through the fridge to see what she had to work with. She hoped they were getting somewhere. After everything with her dad and her sister, Weiss deserved to be happy more than anyone. “I’m glad...” she said, smiling softly. Blake returned the smile before continuing to look through the fridge, trying to conjure up a dinner plan from what was in front of her. 

* * *

“Yang go sit down.”

“ _What_?! I wanna taste a little piece!”

Blake laughed and had to gently push Yang’s face away again. Because it wasn’t the food that Yang was talking about, and Blake found having Yang’s hands on her waist to be extremely distracting. Especially when she was trying to carry a plate filled with food.

Reluctantly, Yang went and sat down on the sofa, arm tossed over the back of the seat as she pouted over at Blake. Her eyes glittered, filled with mischief as she watched her. Blake smirked and was finally granted peace to bring the plate over without Yang trying to distract her. Earlier Yang had claimed to have stocked the fridge, but she bought every thing _except_ sauce, so Blake had to improvise and concoct something out of what was at hand.

On the surface, they looked like the sloppiest chicken sandwiches anyone had ever seen. But they were pretty decent. Yang liked them anyway.

“What was prison food like?” Blake asked, whilst reaching for her backpack. “Nothing like this anyway,” Yang says through her mouthful of food. “This is awesome.” She expected Yang to continue, but she just chewed on her food, staring blankly at the table. “There were times were I just _never_ ate in there.”

“...Why not?”

Blake watched the way Yang’s jaw shifted, what used to have at least a little bit of fat on it seemed to have been cut into a pristine outline. Her jaw hardened and shaped, flesh merely settling over the bone. “Just... I wasn’t exactly _loved_ in there. Apparently Raven screwed a lot of people over- it wasn’t _all bad_ though!” Yang insisted, looking at Blake and pleading that she move on from that topic. Apparently, it was still too soon.

“How are there good parts to prison?” Blake chuckled. Yang’s expression softened, something more lighthearted seeming to take place. “My cell mates were really nice to me. And I enjoyed my job assignment in the workshop. There was this old lady that always snuck me some cigarettes.” Blake hummed a laugh, strangely pleased that it really wasn’t all bad. Or it was and those things just made it bearable.

“What’s in your bag?” Yang nodded, gesturing towards it. Blake grinned at the question, because she knew it was genuine curiosity. Whipping out her laptop, she looked back to Yang who seemed more curious now than before. “I wondered if you wanted to read some of my drafts.”

“ _Hell yeah_ I do, show ‘em to me.”

Butterflies. Pure giddiness at Yang’s response. Because she was grinning and looked so happy to have been offered this. She flicked through her files, pulling up her drafts and passing the laptop over to Yang. Content to lay against her side whilst the blonde read through what had been her work in the last few years.

There was similarities between Yang and Sun, Blake realised. She wondered if that was why she was so attracted to him in the first place; he was, physically anyway, the male version of Yang. They were both kind, caring and funny. Smarter than people gave them credit for. But that’s where the similarities stopped and the differences began.

Sun wasn’t affectionate, was unwilling to give things up for Blake. On their second year anniversary he had opted to go out on his ‘guys night’ over a date with her, promising he would make it up to her later. Which he did but that wasn’t the point, it was the principle of it. But that was why she thought Yang was just _better_. Because she was affectionate, and considerate. It didn’t matter what Blake was talking about, Yang would willingly participate. Even when she didn’t understand or was just uninterested, she still listened and conversed with her. She was too good for anyone, Blake concluded. 

“Can I ask you something?” Yang questioned quietly, flicking through the different tabs of the drafts. Blake nodded, still mesmerised by Yang’s interest in her work. “Have you ever finished one of these?” There was a pause as she thought about the question; Blake shook her head and whispered, “No.”

“And... these are all about _him_ , right?”

“...Yes.”

Yang let out a deep sigh and moved the laptop onto the table, shifting her arm from the back of the sofa onto Blake’s shoulders. The raven haired girl sucked on her teeth, eyes fluttering shut to avoid Yang’s gaze. She felt a hand land on her knee, dragging up slightly in a soothing manner. “You don’t have to write about him, you know that right?” Yang says, and Blake could feel her dipping her head down towards her. Her voice low so it felt like only they could hear despite being alone in this apartment.

“I know,” Blake breathed through gritted teeth. Swallowing a lump in her throat.

“Adam’s long gone Blake, he’s... he’s dead, you’re gonna be okay now,” Yang cooed, pressing a kiss to Blake’s temple. She choked back a sob. 

“I know,” she said again. “But... Yang _you know_ how much happened. And that has to _mean something_... because if it doesn’t then _what the fuck_ was the point in all of it.” And she was crying now, because she was in pain. Had been for a long time. When she thought she might be starting to finally heal, she lost the one thing that always lessened the pain.

Sun didn’t know about Adam. She didn’t bother to tell him, thought there was no point in it. He had just looked at the scar on her hip and shrugged as if it was only skin deep, but that wound cut straight into her very being. She had tried to stitch those scars, tried to move on and heal but all they did was tear. He wouldn’t understand anyway; no one could. Somehow Yang was the only person who understood anything in the end.

“Jesus, fuck... _fuck_ ,” Yang whispered harshly, both arms wrapping around Blake to pull her closer which she readily reciprocated by tucking her face into Yang’s neck. “You haven’t spoken to anyone about this?” Yang asked, her voice struggling not to buckle under the weight of what they were talking about. “I haven’t,” Blake admitted. She began to seek comfort in the warmth of Yang’s skin, safety in her arms and affection in the way Yang cradled her head against her.

“Don’t... you don’t want to talk to a therapist or something? You might need to.” Blake shook her head, cupping Yang’s jaw with one of her hands and caressing the sharp edge with her thumb. “I don’t _need a therapist,_ Yang,” Blake says as she presses her face into Yang’s cheek, taking in a shuddering inhale. “I just _need you_...”

“Okay... _okay_.” Yang nodded, gently turning her head to press a kiss to Blake’s forehead. “You’ve got me, I’m here.” Hands pawed at Yang’s jaw, sloppily trying to pull her down for a real kiss, one that could take her breath away and stop the sobbing. She complied, brushing their lips together as gently as she could; Blake was grateful for it. “I’ve got you baby, I’ve got you,” Yang mumbled against her.

Tears continued to flow as Blake pulled herself into Yang’s lap, hands tangled in her hair as she kissed her with a fervent need. It forced Yang to dig her hands into Blake’s waist, to give back as good as she getting, making Blake’s back arch into her. The blonde was quick to change their position, hooking her arms under Blake’s thighs and laying her down on the sofa. They never broke their kiss, not once for air, because Blake was afraid to let her go again.

She had been wandering through graveyards alone since Yang was gone, haunted by the devil himself who came at night and whispered her name. Always threatening to take from her, to stop her from moving on. But anytime she tried to call for help her voice echoed into the nights void; wails interpreted as hymns to mourn the dearly departed.

But Yang saw past it. She wasn’t ignorant and somehow always understood what Blake needed; and she needed her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys seem to enjoy this and so do I so let’s roll with it! 
> 
> I’m really enjoying the themes of this one and y’know it’s just great creative wise and all. I might’ve just been watching too much shit on Netflix and I’m making my own show over here through this, but y’know it’s chill. 
> 
> Thank you guys for reading, hope you all enjoyed, and I’ll see you in the next chapter!
> 
> Edit: was going over this to fix some typos because I usually edit these chapters at like 3am, so if you spot any yell at me.


	3. Odd Behaviour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gets a lil explicit near the end so... yeah.

Blake spent majority of the week with Yang, on her sofa and in her bed, eating her food and enjoying her presence. Sun didn’t so much as bat an eyelid, waved her off and said that it was fine, he would find something to do. It struck her as odd at first, thinking that they had just been engaged and he might actually want to spend more time with her. But no, he was ‘ _one of the guys_ ’ first and foremost apparently.

The past few nights she had went back to her own house to sleep; that house never felt like a home, the ugly colours of the wall reminding her every time. But right now she wasn’t bothered about having to go home later, she was more focused on relaxing before she had to head to work later. And relaxing involved watching TV whilst Yang stroked her hair, idly scrolling on her phone as she half pays attention to the show they’re watching.

“You coming back later or are you going home?” Yang asked, fingers digging into her scalp and soothing her skin. “Going home,” Blake responded quickly, which made Yang’s brow pinch upwards in confusion. “I’ve gotta clean up and do some laundry before I leave it lying there for too long.” Again, it was only half of a lie. She was going home because she felt bad for Sun, although it seemed like he didn’t mind at all. It wouldn’t be the first time where she had ended up staying with Weiss a few nights. But she wasn’t with Weiss, she was with _Yang_ , that was the crucial difference here.

Plus, she did actually have to clean and do some laundry. Sun usually left everything lying around and cleaned when he had to. Blake remembered when she had a job in San Diego as a copy editor when she had just moved in with Sun. It was a _nightmare_. He literally could not do anything around the house without her, it made her wonder how he had survived this long on his own.

“Alright, I’m gonna go out with Coco later if you’re not available then,” Yang said, grinning as she typed away on her phone. Blake wiped her face to hide her smile, all too happy that she wasn’t her second choice. “How are you feeling, by the way?” Yang asked, hand sliding down Blake’s arm and making her purr. “Pretty good,” she says, knowing Yang doesn’t entirely believe that.

“Are you sure?”

“Yang, I’m fine. If I wasn’t you would be the first one to know,” Blake said and didn’t know if that was at all reassuring. But Yang seemed to find solace in it, making a contented noise as she pressed a kiss to the crown of Blake’s head. She enjoyed this, being adored by someone. It was selfish to want this so badly, she knew that, but she also loved this sort of attention. For a couple years there was only slight affection, the brush of lips, the touch of a hand and the compliments that poured out when necessary. But never just because, it was always the bare minimum.

Strangely, that wasn’t at all Sun’s fault. From what she knew he didn’t really know what it was like to be in a relationship. Meaning Blake was one of his first girlfriends. So he forgets to do those things, doing them from time to time when he does remember. But she needed more than that and Yang had never failed to provide in the most casual of ways. Showing affection was second nature for her.

“Should I stop by the bar and see you later before we go out?” Yang asked, grinning down at Blake. She shrugged, smiling back as she said, “Come if you want, we’re usually really busy on Fridays though so I don’t know if you’ll see me a whole lot.” The blonde shrugged, chucking her phone onto the far side of the sofa as she leaned down into Blake. Always handsy and craving to touch, she tugged Blake close, gently caressing her sides.

“You’re really busy on Fridays? I don’t know, you might be setting the _bar_ pretty high-“

Blake giggled and lightly slapped her chest, playful in nature. She wondered how long it would take Yang to slip back into those shitty jokes she loves. They were always fun when they slipped out, Blake having gained a certain fondness for them. Yet Yang seemed to be holding back, a look in her eyes seeming far off in some moments, disconnected from what was happening around her.

Like right now, where she had been laughing along with Blake but at some point her eyes wandered off, something in her mind occupying itself with another matter. Blake’s smile subsided, whilst Yang’s remained on her face. Painted there with the words ‘ _please don’t question this_ ’ written in bold like it was with her to begin with. Putting Blake’s needs over her own.

“Where are you going later anyway? What’s your plans for the night?” Blake sang, voice chirpy to try and bring Yang back from wherever she was. She playfully prodded Yang’s ribs as she waited for an answer, gaining the reaction of Yang jumping backwards. ‘ _Still ticklish,_ ’ Blake laughed internally. “We’re just going out for a couple drinks then probably back to Coco’s,” Yang says as she blinks slowly.

“I’m guessing this is regular for you two?”

“Pretty much. If I text you later it’s not my fault, it’s the alcohol.”

“You’re full of it, you’d text me even if you weren’t drunk.”

“No, but it’s the contents of those texts that may vary-“ Blake playfully pressed her palm into Yang’s face as they both laughed. Their banter was something that Blake genuinely missed, because it was dry and their own type of humour. Every joke was known and understood so well that it was like they had said it all before. But even if they had, they would still repeat those words and enjoy the sounds of laughter.

“I hate you.”

“You do? Wow, what a plot twist.”

“Don’t laugh, I don’t like you.”

“Hmm... maybe. I’ll tell you what you do like though.”

Blake raised an eyebrow, already trying to predict her intentions. Instead she was met with Yang’s hands on her ribs tickling her, having her laughing and falling backwards, bare feet scraping against the sofa’s fabric to try and escape. There was a shriek of surprise when Yang hit one particularly ticklish spot and continued to repeat that motion in an attempt to drag that sound from Blake again. She didn’t, but she continued to try.

Deciding to fight back, she pressed her hands to Yang’s ribs in return. The blonde let out a surprised giggle and tried to grab Blake’s wrist, only to fail and give Blake a better opportunity to tickle her. A sharp laugh slipped out of her mouth, followed by the sound of Yang’s back slamming against the arm of the sofa. “T-This back- backfired so _badly_ ,” Yang said between laughs, surrendering to Blake as she stopped fighting against her.

“Should’ve thought about that Xiao Long,” Blake said, smirking as she moved over Yang, delicately pushing back her bangs and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She didn’t know if she could even qualify Yang’ hair as bangs. It was mostly just a mess of hair that hung down over her forehead, but she supposed it fit the general description.

“How do you know this wasn’t my plan all along?” She asked, cocking her head to the side and watching a bemused Blake sitting in her lap. “What if I had this all planned out from the start just to get you right here?”

“Then I would be very surprised.”

“I’m full of surprises.” The blonde grinned, trailing off as she reached over to the table. Bringing her hand back, she presented Blake’s lighter to her, thumb tracing over the engraved letters. “And so are you apparently. I didn’t think you’d keep this.” She flicked the lighter, a flame sparking in front of them.

“You got me it, why wouldn’t I keep it?”

“Because I didn’t know if you’d want a reminder of Jaune falling asleep on our doormat.” Yang laughed, settling back into the sofa as she reached for the packet of cigarettes on the table. Blake’s heart did a little flip as Yang still referred to it as _their_ doormat. It was Yang’s, she bought it and it sat at the entrance to her apartment. But Blake had picked it, had been involved in the process of purchasing the mat as she was with most of the things in the old apartment. Even if she wasn’t, Yang made her believe that it belonged to both of them.

“It was a funny story,” Blake insisted, now reaching to light up the cigarette that sat loosely between Yang’s teeth. The story went something like; they had all been out drinking, Yang and Blake said they were going home then Jaune asked if he could stay at their place. Somehow, they didn’t hear him knock on the door. And instead of knocking again or calling them, Jaune slept on their door mat. “True,” Yang replied, taking a drag from her cigarette. “It was a funny story.”

“Remember when he spewed on your carpet?” Yang rolled her eyes as she tipped the ash from the cigarette into an empty glass (they were never classy). “We ended up washing that part of the carpet so many times it was a different colour from the rest of it.” They both chuckled at the memory. At the time they had both been furious that he had not only vomited on their carpet, but spooked the neighbour with his snoring in the hallway.

“I’m just glad it came out. I thought we might need another carpet when it stained,” Blake said, smiling at her own use of ‘we’ several times over. Yang hummed and carefully spun the cigarette between her fingers, offering it to Blake. She lightly placed the cigarette between her lips, watching fiercely as Blake dragged on it, puckering her lips as she puffed the smoke back out.

“So, I won’t see you until tomorrow?” Yang asked, letting go of the cigarette and letting her hand trail over the curve of Blake’s jawline. The raven haired girl took another drag from the cigarette and shook her head. “Nope. I’m off tomorrow night though so I’ll be back,” she says, smirking as she stubs the cigarette out on the glass they were using as an ashtray. “I’ve really got to stop smoking,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

“Why? It’s five minutes of pleasure.”

“There are plenty of other things to be pleasured by.”

“I could pleasure you tonight if you come back over,” Yang purred, hands sliding up and down Blake’s thighs. Her thumbs stopped to play with the belt loops on her jeans, a devilish grin plastered on her face, threatening more than five minutes of anything. “I’m not falling for it. You’ll see me tomorrow night.” Yang let out a sigh as she admitted defeat, hands gently squeezing Blake’s thighs.

“Fine, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She beamed and Blake felt a little guilty inside. 

* * *

Blake slid a few glasses into the sink, reminding herself to wash them as soon as she got a minute to do so. She was thankful that she actually enjoyed fixing up cocktails or else she would’ve been at her wits end by now. It was mostly guys going back and forth from their table to the bar. Rounds of beers mixed with cocktails, the occasional shot would have to be poured out. 

She was somewhat grateful that working here gave her the skills to make a mean martini, but she would honestly settle for cheap liquor any day of the week. Yang liked it. A couple times she had made drinks for her this week. Frozen daiquiris, french martini’s- she loved fruity bullshit and Blake was happy to fix something up for her. It was funny, trying to teach Yang the difference between frozen fruit and fresh fruit. She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t just buy frozen stuff and take it to work with her. 

There was a certain satisfaction Blake got from bar work. Both she and Velvet had been stuck behind the bar again, a few of the other people who worked there opting to do all the running around from table to table. Velvet took up washing the glasses, seeing that Blake was too busy with orders to do so. There was a loud laugh from one of the booths to their right and Velvet glanced over, chuckling and shaking her head. 

It had come from the booth that Coco and Yang were sitting at just now, another few of their friends sitting with them. Blake hadn’t been on a night out in a while, too busy trying to figure out how to get out of her relationship and also be a good person doing it. That wasn’t happening anymore, so she might just have to join everyone one night.

“You’re staring at Yang again,” Velvet said, running a cloth over the tiled bar. Blake rolled her eyes and dumped a few empty glasses in the sink, turning on the tap to rinse them first. “You keep staring at Coco,” Blake shot back, an amused lilt to her voice. The brunette hummed and leaned against the bar, poking Blake’s arm with her finger. “Yeah but you’re kind of, y’know, _engaged_.” She whispered that last part but it still felt like the entire room had heard of Blake’s misdeeds.

“She was bragging to Coco about you,” Velvet said and Blake had to screw her eyes shut. She was slightly embarrassed about being caught, but not at all bothered because at least it was _Velvet_. She wouldn’t say a thing to anybody about this. And of course Yang would brag, Blake mentally smacked herself. Yang was none the wiser and thought she had Blake all to herself again, little did she know there was another blonde bombshell in the mix.

“You know what the worst part about it is?” Blake asked, idly scrubbing at the glasses just to do something with her hands. “I _barely_ even feel bad about it. Like, that’s not normal, is it?” Velvet shrugged, one eyebrow raised upwards. “I don’t know. But I’m gonna guess, considering the circumstances, that you probably don’t need to call yourself a sociopath just yet.”

“” _Probably_ ”, well that’s reassuring.” They both chuckled, taking a moment to lean on the bar and rest. “What are these circumstances anyway?”

“The circumstances are that, in _your_ heart-“ Velvet lightly tapped her arm again. “Sun is never gonna be Yang. And so, you don’t see any point in sticking around for him when you could see what you’re missing out on with Yang.”

“That’s actually quite insightful.”

“Blake, we’ve been friends for years. Of course it’s fucking insightful.” They both laughed again, Velvet squeaking when Blake lightly shoved her. She glanced back over at Yang, who immediately turned her head to meet her eyes. It was always like she just knew. Something natural and built into her, making her completely fall into rhythm with Blake. Yang gently smiled at her then winked. She giggled back.

“You know Sun’s going to find out though, right?” Velvet said, voice lower now that she was actually talking about him and not just mentioning his name. Blake nodded, glancing over to the empty stage. She missed when Weiss played, but she had a gig somewhere else tonight. “I know. I’m just trying to figure everything out right now. There’s no way I can get a place on my own.”

“Well, you know you can always stay with me or Weiss. Plus, Yang would happily let you stay with her,” Velvet says, eyes quickly darting over to look at something (most likely Coco) then back to Blake. She was right. Yang would probably insist upon it, would end up being overly caring. Asking if she needed this or that, encouraging her to make herself at home. That was Yang. Always had been, always would be.

“I’ll have to think about it,” Blake replied. Because she didn’t know what else to say. There was no way she was about to admit that she didn’t have a clue what she was doing anymore; that her life was still falling apart... and that Yang was the only thing that was somehow a constant. Even when she went to prison and after they broke up, Blake still thought about her everyday.

“Hey, hope I’m not interrupting?” Yang’s hand swept across the bar as she walked, grin stuck to her face. Velvet hummed and shook her head, disappearing to help another customer. “You weren’t. We were just talking,” Blake said and the blonde nodded, thumb tapping off of the tiles. Yang opened her mouth to speak, swayed slightly, steadied herself with both hands now on the bar. “Can you get me another drink?” She asked, brushing rogue strands of hair back into the rest of her so called bangs.

“I feel like I should stop you before you end up drunk and disorderly,” Blake quipped, smirking. Yang laughed, louder than she should’ve, seeming oddly nervous about the whole interaction. Probably just Blake’s imagination. “Come on, one more strawberry sunrise,” Yang cooed, still trying to play it cool as she grins. Blake nodded, once, twice, several times over before moving to actually fix up the drink for her.

She poured in the strawberry vodka, followed by the orange juice and the grenadine, sinking to the bottom and creating a red spot. A smirk appeared on her face as she slid the drink across the bar, dropping a straw and a little umbrella into the drink. Blake knew how much Yang loved stupid bullshit. “Are you flirting with me bartender?” Yang purred, twirling the straw in the glass to mix her drink.

“Actually, I shouldn’t be flirting with customers. I could get into a lot of trouble for this.” It was a part of this game they were playing again, initiated as soon as Yang had asked her question. Blake loved it, lived for that uncertain rush of adrenaline because they never really knew the journey through these games, only that they had mostly ended in bed. The other few times were good too, harmless flirting where they ended up giving it a rest for the night. Yang hummed and leaned forward, face inches from Blake’s.

“But what if it’s the customer flirting with you?” She questioned, eyes half lidded and the stench of alcohol meaning that she was certainly too drunk for this game to continue. Which meant Blake would have to end it now. She closed her eyes and let Yang kiss her, slow and sloppy. Tongue heavy and heady as she tried to slip it past Blake’s lips.

Blake didn’t know why she did it, if it was a sign from God or just pure paranoia. But her eyes shot open to glare at her surroundings. At the other side of the room stood Sage; one of Sun’s friends. His back was turned to her but she recognised him from the familiar tattoos and colour of his hair, paired with his dark skin. She reluctantly pulled away from Yang, slow enough that it would look like she just needed some room to breathe and fast enough that she was unlikely to be caught now.

Her heart pounded in her chest, hands trembling slightly from what could’ve just happened had he noticed. Two birds with one stone; except the only person getting stoned would be Blake and that would be to try and escape whatever could’ve just happened. Yang whined and tried to move in again, only for Blake to gently push on her chest. A sign that they weren’t doing that right now.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come back to my place later?” Yang asked, for what might’ve been the hundredth time that day. She nodded, certain she had to go home and hyperventilate over what could’ve been. “I’m gonna do some laundry and clean up, I promise I’ll be back tomorrow though.” She smiled shakily.

Yang nodded profusely, seeming overly eager and maybe even a little confused. Lilac eyes scanned over her, something glittering inside of them that Blake couldn’t quite place. She seemed panicked. More panicked than Blake was. “Are you alright?” Blake asked, throwing caution to the wind and letting her fingers dance along the curve of Yang’s neck. “I-I’m fine, I’m just... drunker than I thought I was,” she chuckled, leaning into all the spaces Blake was touching.

“Are you sure?” She asked, extremely unsure of whether or not she should believe Yang right now. Her face had paled slightly, Blake could still notice it in the darkness of the room. A quick glance over to Sage showed that he wasn’t turning around anytime soon, she didn’t think any of them at that table were looking over. “Do you think you’re gonna be sick?” It was a possibility. Blake knew that she often vomited after drinking. Memories of many late nights holding back Yang’s hair as her head was dipped into the toilet bowl coming back to her.

Yang half smiled, shaking her head. “I’m good, baby. Promise,” the blonde says quietly, hand wrapping around Blake’s wrist to keep her from pulling away. She nods, settles her hand over Yang’s cheek and not bothering if anyone was watching. Glancing over at Velvet, who was checking her phone under the bar, she knew she still had a minute or two to talk.

“Yang! You coming or what?” Coco yelled as she strolled past, following their group that had already left. Yang waved a hand at her, gesturing for her to go on ahead. “Yeah, I’ll just be a second.” Coco nodded and waved at both Blake and Yang before leaving. Blake felt Yang’s jaw stiffen under her hand, bones clicking and teeth scraping against one another. She looked conflicted, staring at the space between the door and Blake as if she was trying to make a decision.

“Go enjoy your night, I’ll talk to you later. Okay?” Blake said, a cheerful tone to her voice just to make Yang feel better. Because, right now, she had no clue why Yang was acting this way and it made her feel anything but cheerful. The blonde nodded again, letting out a small sigh. “Okay, I’ll text you,” Yang says as she leans forward to peck at Blake’s lips; Blake lets her and kisses back. It was only quick, Yang pulling back to walk away almost instantly, the whole act being like they had done this everyday for years.

“Don’t get too wasted!” Blake called after her, laughing when Yang looked back and shrugged at her. She was immediately tossed back into work by two girls at the bar asking for glasses of Prosecco. Busying herself with that and serving other drinks didn’t take her mind off of things. Yang’s behaviour struck her as odd, even if she was drunk. An intoxicated Yang was more of a sweaty, charming mess. Not the nervous person she had just seen who was barely able to spit out a sentence.

Then there was the matter of, had Sage seen her? If he had, would he even say anything? He had always been quiet, minding his own business. If she was honest, she would assume he didn’t even care. The only time they had really communicated was when she had to ask if Sun really did get a tattoo of a banana on his ass. Which, sadly, was a yes.

“You’re not really subtle are you?” Velvet said, accompanied by a teasing grin. Blake chuckled and rolled her eyes, nudging Velvet with her arm. “It’s fine, nobody was looking.” She shrugged, acting like it was a casual thing.

“Yeah, but Sage is in that back corner.”

“Is there anything you don’t know?”

“Yes, actually. I don’t know if he saw or not.”

“You’re a natural comedian Miss Scarlatina.” 

* * *

Going home that night was hellish, the house mostly shrouded in darkness being a pain in the ass for her. Blake had meant to get her eyes tested months ago, discovering it was getting harder for her to read without squinting. She just hadn’t had the time or motivation to do so. Plus, it wasn’t really on her list of things to-do this week.

Locking the door behind her, she quietly strolled into the kitchen, dumping her wallet and phone onto the counter. She set about her nightly routine, which mostly consisted of drinking tea before bed. But that could wait, for tonight she had another mission; actually do laundry. Because Sun couldn’t do it so she had to. 

There was silence upstairs, eery silence. She assumed Sun must be asleep but even at that it was strange. Stepping into the spare bedroom, she clicked on the light. Neptune must’ve went home at some point seeing as he wasn’t here. They used this room as their wardrobe as it had more closet space in general. A wardrobe on either side of the wall showing as much. Blake had always thought it an odd design choice but she wasn’t an architect to argue. 

The wardrobes were always insanely different. On one half, Blake’s clothes were neatly hung up and folded where need be, a small pile at the bottom of the wardrobe telling her what needed to be washed. Whereas Sun’s half was just slung in there, clothes piling up from the ground, she even saw shoes half stuck inside of a pair of jeans. Blake could only roll her eyes and try her best, collecting button-up shirts that she knew had to be washed. 

It was what he wore, easily put on and taken off. Those and t-shirts. Anything that he could easily tear back off he would wear it. She collected the shirts from the hangers, counted three but knew there should be four. A white shirt was missing, but looking down at the messy pile she knew she didn’t want to bother looking. Too much effort for a stupid shirt she could find some other day.

The house was still shockingly quiet as she passed through the hallway, making her way downstairs and through the kitchen to the washroom. She caught a whiff of the aftershave Yang wore on her own shirt as she began piling clothes into the washing machine. Yang had always ended up wearing guys clothes, seeming to fit her better than anything in the women’s section. She eventually said _fuck it_ and started wearing aftershave as well, claiming she liked the smell better.

Blake had always liked the smell. The strong scent of lemon seeming to pair with Yang’s whole being. Whenever she smelled anything similar, she would constantly associate it with Yang. She found herself wondering how Yang was, wondering what she was doing right now. The last Blake had heard from Yang was a text in broken English (even more broken than usual) informing her that they were heading home. But that was an hour ago and she hasn’t heard anything else. She figured Yang was either passed out or being sick; neither was a comforting thought.

Filling a cup with water, she shoved it in the microwave. She hated this way of making tea, burning her hand every time she went to grab the cup. Her own way of handling that was to pour the water into a cooler cup. A kettle for her stovetop was on her list of things to buy and fast. Sun didn’t share her enthusiasm for tea but she didn’t care.

She managed not to burn herself when taking the cup from the microwave, dipping her lemon & honey teabags in and out. She leaned on the counter, staring out of the kitchen window. It was such a nice night. Warm, clear skies and no wind. The distant sound of someone laughing and sprinklers going off had her thinking of the first time she ever met Yang.

Blake had came to LA to visit Velvet for the weekend after she moved out here for college. Which had turned out to be torture, living in a dorm room didn’t exactly scream appealing to her. Although, she ended up doing it anyway, didn’t she? It had been late, Velvet already fast asleep in her room. Blake had slipped out into the living room of Velvet’s suite for some peace and quiet, although that wasn’t exactly what she got. At all.

There was laughing from outside, followed by a tiny yelp and some shuffling across the grass. Glancing out the window, that was the first time she ever saw Yang. Soaked and rolling around on the lawn outside of her friends dorm. Something about the blonde just seemed to charm her. Maybe it was the happy go lucky attitude or maybe even how beautiful she was. But when Yang flopped onto her back and looked up at her, eyes wide and murmuring, “Oh _wow_.” Blake knew she had to find out more. Then the rest was history.

It was never that light and playful though. At first, it was. She found out Yang had finished high school a year early to come to college here, needing a degree to officially work for her dad as a mechanic. Yang found out that Blake was still finishing high school but was planning to move to LA when she graduated. Unfortunately, her shadow followed her. And with him came the weight of responsibility, having to keep him separate from her life as well as having to also live in that separate life. 

It didn’t work. In the end she was locked in a hotel room, stuck with a shadow she could still see, even in the darkness. A devil who only wanted her to suffer. Would make her reflection a wobbling painting of grief. Afraid that one shiver too many would result in another bruise to add to the miserable portrait he was painting; she being the canvas. 

Blake didn’t believe in God. But she thanked him for sending Yang at the right moment to save her. 

“You’re not coming to bed?” Sun said. He must have appeared at some time during her reminiscing. “I’m doing the laundry before I forget to,” she answered. It was simple and straight to the point. Meant he might go back to bed faster than needed if he thought she was in a bad mood. However, she never was so lucky. 

There was a soft padding of feet across the tiled floor, cupping her hips; hands searching flesh. Lips pressing to the nape of her neck, too rough and sloppy now. It didn’t feel right. It hadn’t for a while now. His erection was painfully obvious, jutting into her ass through his boxers. Blake bit her lip, repressing her desire to smack him for this when she was just minding her own business in the _fucking kitchen_. He didn’t feel right against her. He hadn’t for a while now. 

“No, I’m too tired for that,” she grumbled, hand looping around to push his head away. Instead of fighting it, he groaned and stepped away, glancing at the laundry basket before stalking back for upstairs. In a sour mood that he didn’t get what he came for. As nice as he was, Sun was a _child_ sometimes. She chalked it up to sometimes thinking with his dick instead of his head, but it was annoying when the former occurred.

She grabbed her phone as it buzzed against the wooden counter. 

**[Yang: 04:02]**

hey, soz i ddnt txt ub for anwhile

** [Yang: 04:02]  **

u still up? 

Blake smiled and grabbed her cup of tea, moving to the living room where she took up residence on the sofa to text Yang back. 

** [Blake: 04:03]  **

yep. still awake. 

** [Blake: 04:04]  **

was actually just wondering what you were up to. 

** [Yang: 04:04] **

the usual,, thinnking about u

Blake swallowed, thinking she knew where this was headed. 

**[Blake: 04:04]**

what were you thinking about?

** [Yang: 04:04]  **

u in my bed, u underneath me

It was definitely going where Blake thought it was and she licked her lips in anticipation. 

**[Yang: 04:05]**

want to see?

** [Blake: 04:05]  **

yes 

Less then a minute later Blake was receiving a video from Yang. The blonde’s hand slid into her pants and rubbed at her clit furiously, albeit very sloppily. Blake could hear slight panting even with her volume so low. It made her mouth go dry, her knees go weak. And it made her pull her pants down to send one back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for reading! Sorry I took a little longer with this chapter. It was a wild week. Me and my girlfriend went out for dinner, then some douche was like ‘fkn dykes’ bcoz he saw a lesb flag on my bag. So my dude bro friend was like “WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT?!”
> 
> Anyways, have a good week everyone, I’ll see y’all next time!


	4. Unexpected Guest

_** Thunk! ** _

“ _Blake_! Do you know where my belt is?!”

Blake groaned, face pressing into the sofa cushion. She had fallen asleep whilst texting Yang, leaving her stranded on the sofa. But no matter where she was in the house, every morning _without fail_ , Sun would wake her up to ask a question. Whether it be “where is this?” or “how do you do this?” it happened every morning. It was the one thing she absolutely loathed from the very start of dating Sun.

He was a handyman, as she put it. A real typical DIY guy. Electrician, plumber, joiner- a jack of all trades that everyone loved because of his sunny personality (ironic that his name was _Sun_ ). But Blake found herself wondering if anyone else wanted to strangle him or if it was just her. Actually, her dad. Ghira hated Sun since he sauntered into her parents house, dusty work books and all. 

“Blake-“

“It’s in my half! I put it there because you kept losing it!”

“It’s not!”

“Then I don’t know, you’ll need to look for it...” she grumbled, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. Sometimes she felt like all she did was clear up Sun’s mess, which she would probably be doing again as he storms through the house like a hurricane looking for a belt. Blake groaned as she twisted onto her side, lounging on the sofa like a house cat. 

She reached for her phone then rolled her eyes at the fact that it was only nine-forty five. There was another loud thump from upstairs, followed by doors closing and Sun’s footsteps. Her phone buzzed a few times, drawing her attention to it. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Yang calling. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t answer. 

Blake bit her tongue, holding her phone to her chest and tapping the back of it. She would just have to wait until Sun left. But that was also _very_ nerve wracking. Didn’t know how, it wasn’t as if he would see her phone or even ask. But it still made her nervous, because she knew Yang would _know_. Sun’s boots clunked off of the floor, shaking out his hair as he reached for his car keys. He always wore these kind of cargo pants and form fitting t-shirts to work, both of which were incredibly hard to get the stains out of. 

“Are you going back over to Weiss’ place later?” Sun asked, shaking out his damp hair as he stood in the doorway. Blake nodded turning so she could face him. She felt bad about the night before, shrugging him off like that. Although, she was a firm believer that if something doesn’t feel right; don’t do it. In this case, that thing was Sun. 

And she hadn’t been doing him since before their engagement, so around a month now. 

“Yeah, we’re making some progress with my drafts so we’re gonna keep going.” It wasn’t a lie, at all. She just abstained from telling him that she was going to stay at Yang’s after she saw Weiss. Plus, she had actually wrote more in the last week than she had in the last year. A poem here, half of a chapter draft there. Even some lyrics for Weiss. 

Sun nodded, scratching his head, looking like he had more to say. So, instead of waiting a lifetime for him to speak, she asked, “What is it?” His throat bobbed and Blake regretted even asking. Damn her impatience. “Well, it’s about last night. Like I’ve _barely_ seen you at all this week, then you didn’t even sleep in the same bed as me.”

“Sun, I fell asleep waiting for the dryer to finish.” She furrowed her brow. There was more at play here and she knew exactly what it was. “Is this because I wouldn’t have sex with you? _Is that it?_ ” Blake spat, because she found it to be ridiculous. She had been at work all week, had actually been working with Weiss during the day on her own stuff. Okay, _sure_ , there was a little bit of Yang sprinkled here, there and everywhere but that was beside the point.

“Well... _kind of_. I mean, it’s just- I haven’t seen you all week,” he says, sounding slightly whiny towards the end. Blake ran her tongue across her teeth, she felt bad. Then again, she didn’t. Neptune had been here all week to keep him company. Last night was the first night he hadn’t been here. “I get home from work at three in the morning, five nights a week. And I’ve been helping Weiss-“

“So you’ve said.”

Blake bit her tongue then swallowed, biting back a comment that might genuinely hurt him. “I don’t know what to say to you,” she shrugged. There was nothing she could say, nothing that wouldn’t hurt him anyway. “I’m living my life and hanging out with Weiss. The same way as you live your life and you hang out with Neptune.”

Sun scratched his head, seemingly no retort for that. Blake was right and she knew that. If Sun wasn’t going to give up all of his freedoms then neither was Blake. He tapped his thumb off of the doorframe before stepping backwards. “I’m off to work then. If you’re staying at Weiss’ I’ll just ask Neptune to come over again.” He waved his hand at her, dismissing the topic entirely. She didn’t even have a moment to answer him but the door was being shut as he left.

To an extent, she could understand his frustration. But she just didn’t find it fair that it was alright for him to do whatever he wanted but when she did the same it was “why are you doing that?” She grabbed her phone, finally able to call back Yang.

** [Weiss: 09:58]  **

Are you still coming over for lunch later? 

** [Blake: 10:00]  **

yep, i’ll be over in a few hours. 

Her finger was already flicking through her contacts to find Yang. Yang didn’t work on weekends, she knew. And with how drunk Yang was, Blake thought she would be in a comatose state right now. Maybe speaking to her would cheer her up after the petty squabble with Sun, worrying over Yang would do the trick as well but that wasn’t the preferred option.

Biting her nails, she waited for Yang to answer. Heart beating loud in her ears, something was wrong. She only let herself breathe when she heard Yang answer. “Hey- sorry, I didn’t wake you did I?” Yang asked, voice hoarse and raspy. Blake giggled, even if she did sound extremely hungover, it was nice that she was still concerned. “No, I just saw that you called. What’s up?”

There was a pause, the sound of Yang’s lips parting. Blake’s eyes darted around as she listened to the silence, unable to make out anything. “ _Yang_?”

“Yeah... yeah um.” There was the sound of her scratching her head, followed by a sniffle. “I was just... y’know I haven’t slept and I wasn’t feeling well so... I called _you_.”

“I’ll get my stuff and come over now then instead of later-“

“It’s fine if you’re busy, I don’t wanna-“

“Yang, I’m coming over.”

The blonde made an appreciative sound across the phone, accepting that she would be subject to Blake’s doting for the next few hours at least. 

* * *

The front door was unlocked when she got to Yang’s apartment, so Blake let herself in. She had stopped off to grab some food, if Yang was going to be sick she would probably need something to vomit up other than bile. So, stopping at a cafe and spending a few dollars on breakfast wraps & pancakes was a good investment for her. 

“Yang?” She called out, seeing that she wasn’t in the living room. There was a groan from the bedroom, so Blake followed that noise, bag of food in hand. Yang lay on her back, t-shirt half ridden up her abdomen and shorts barely hanging on. The curtains for the small floor to ceiling window were in disarray, as if there had been an attempt to close them but they had given up. 

Next to the bed, there was a bucket. Empty but it was still there. Blake let out a shocked laugh at the amount of alcohol on Yang’s bedside cabinet, slightly appalled that she had continued to drink even when she got home. There were a few empty beer bottles and a half drank bottle of vodka. Which would explain why Yang looked and sounded like she was on the verge of death. 

Placing the bag filled with food down onto the floor, Blake crawled across the bed. Unable to stop how her hand trailed along Yang’s exposed abs. They were too enticing not to. “Are you okay?” Blake said softly, fingers playing with the hem of Yang’s t-shirt. The blonde nodded, hair rustling against the pillow. “I am now that you’re here,” she smiled, chuckling slightly. Yang hadn’t even bothered to open her eyes. 

“What’s going on with you?” Blake asked. She didn’t know what was going on. First it was last night at the bar when she was nervous, lingering around Blake as if she didn’t want to leave. Then there was the way she kept asking if she was coming over. Just when Blake was about to chalk it up to Yang being drunk and weird, they shared _the most awkward_ phone call this morning. There had to be something she could do about this. 

Yang’s tongue darted out to wet her lips, eyes blinking open to look over at Blake. She shifted her arm until it was trapped under Blake’s weight. “Nothing. I’m fine-“

“ _Yang_.”

“ _What?_ ” Yang growled, turning to tuck her face into Blake’s shoulder. The raven haired girl sighed and petted Yang’s hair, hand sliding up and down her back soothingly. “It’s just been... a lot recently. _You’re_ a lot,” Yang mumbled, lazily throwing her other arm over Blake’s waist. She didn’t know how to take that admittance. What did “ _a lot_ ” mean? Was it bad? Was Blake fucking with Yang’s life? 

“What do you mean?” Blake asked, because she had to know. Didn’t know if her heart could take a beating right now, not with everything she had been considering lately. The blonde let out a small moan, arms tightening around Blake as best as she could within her inebriated state. “I mean, like, I didn’t think I’d see you again. I mean, _fuck_ , it broke my heart but I understood, y’know.”

‘It broke mine too.’ Blake wanted to say. But it wasn’t the right time.

“Then I did see you again, and then we had _the best sex_ I’ve ever had.” They both laughed, that had definitely been a night for the history books in her mind. She was glad it was for Yang too. “I’m just so happy I’ve got you again...” a kiss was pressed to Blake’s shoulder, tickling her skin. Blake found herself having to bite back a smile.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah... I used to think about you all the time when shit got really hard in there.” Another kiss to her shoulder, trailing up until her face was pressed against the underside of Blake’s jaw. Blake wrestled with herself, debating whether or not to ask Yang about what happened in prison. Because she hadn’t been right. She seemed more... clingy. Distant even in her closeness.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Blake asked, resting her head atop Yang’s. She dropped a few kisses on her scalp in return for the ones Yang had given her. Silence again. There was an expectancy for Yang to say no, because she had never been one to talk about her feelings. Unwilling to show her vulnerabilities. Always wanting to seem invincible; forever acting like she could protect Blake from anything.

Yang couldn’t, of course. She was only human. But Blake let her believe what she wanted, because she would always be there to catch Yang before she fell. It would never be enough after what Yang had done for her, but she hoped it was enough to show Yang she cared.

Once upon a time Blake had been fearing for her life in a hotel room, trying to avoid a blade that was already lodged in her flesh. Who knows what would have happened if Yang hadn’t broken her arm putting the door in to try and get to her. But Blake knew there was no way she could ever repay her for that, even if Yang insisted she didn’t want anything from Blake; just her.

“Let’s just say, some people weren’t exactly thrilled when they found out I’m the daughter of Raven Branwen,” Yang said, tone flat and dry. Blake ran a hand down her back again, curling around her to try and somehow pull Yang closer. “What... did they do something to you?” Her eyes stung, throat going dry. She knew it should be Yang who wanted to cry, but instead it was her. _Jesus_ , that must speak volumes about her.

“A couple things. Sometimes they spat in my food or would try jump me in the shower.” Two completely different things that were both disgusting in their own way. Yang snuggled further into Blake, breathing slow as her eyes slipped shut. “It was nothing major, not really. Sometimes it just scared the shit out of me because I didn’t expect it.”

Tears streamed silently now, because she couldn’t help but feel like she should’ve been there. On the phone, visiting, ensuring Yang that everything was going to be fine. “I had my commissary money though, that was a positive to it.” Blake hummed and nodded in agreement, wiping her tears away. She remembered triple checking that Yang had her commissary money, Blake having sent the cheque herself to make sure she had it.

“There should have been enough money in your commissary to keep you going for a while though, right?” Blake asked. It was around four-hundred dollars she transferred for Yang in that first month Yang had been incarcerated. The memory of Blake panicking that she wouldn’t have enough for commissary coming back to her. Yang chuckled against her. “Thank god you did that or else I would’ve been completely screwed,” Yang admitted.

She paused again, mulling over her words. “How would you have been screwed?” Something told her she would regret asking, that she would just be pissed off by this. “No one could afford to put money in my commissary. It was only Ruby that sent anything.” Blake knew that to be bullshit. Not that Ruby couldn’t send anything, no. Yang and Ruby loved each other so she could believe that Ruby would send what she could. But Blake knew for a fact Qrow and Tai must have had _something_ to spare.

“Don’t get angry about it, it’s done now,” Yang mumbled, sighing.

“It’s not _okay_ though, they could’ve sent something.”

“I had my wages.”

“Yes, and your wages were, like, twenty dollars a month- Yang you needed much more than that.” A part of her genuinely couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and it made her feel worse. Blake knew for a fact that if she would’ve stuck around she would’ve sent more money to Yang. Anything she could spare. The fact no one had bothered to send her anything just pissed her off. They had at the start if she remembered correctly. Did they just give up...?

Give up like her?

Blake remembered sitting down with Yang and her family. Discussing what would happen once she went into jail. She had found a list of the commissary prices; remembered them being absurd for a prisoner. Who would have the money to pay six dollars for toothpaste in prison? But she also remembered the prices of clothing. Sweatshirts being fifteen to twenty dollars.

“Don’t be mad-“

“No wonder I’m mad though. Did _none of them_ give you any money?”

“No, it was only Ruby...” her voice was quiet, like she was ashamed to actually admit that. If only Blake would’ve known any of this, she would’ve been back in a click of her fingers . She thought Yang was fine, that her family was taking care of her. Apparently, her family only consisted of Ruby. At least Qrow got her this apartment when she got out.

Arms snaked around Yang’s body, keeping them both so close that Yang’s face was buried inside of Blake’s neck. Her fingers threaded through locks of blonde hair, lightly scratching at her scalp. Soft noises of contentment escaping Yang as Blake pampered her. “I didn’t know.... you could’ve called me,” Blake said, blinking back tears as she pressed a kiss to her head. There was no way she could cry right now.

“I didn’t want to bother you, not after I told you that it was fine to move on.”

A shaky exhale escaped Blake. Yang had only proved that, once again, how much she cared for Blake knew no bounds. Extending into leaving herself hurt just so Blake didn’t have to be. “I’m here now... I’m not going anywhere.” Another few kisses were dropped onto Yang’s head, a silent reassurance that she was telling the truth. Yang nodded.

“And I’m so glad you’re here so I can cuddle with you,” Yang said, both of them laughing slightly and not bothering to move away from each other. No tears were shed, Blake held them back, converting those tears into kisses she would place on Yang’s head. There was a whiff of bacon from beside the bed, reminding Blake that she had brought food with her. Reluctantly, she broke the spell, twisting backwards to grab the back.

“I got something to eat for you. Figured you’d probably be hungry.” Yang rolled onto her back, allowed Blake to sit up. Blake tried to feed Yang the food, but she ended up feebly chewing on a piece of pancake Blake had cut up for her. She shook her head and lightly slapped Yang’s chest. “You’re so full of it, just chew normally,” Blake giggled.

“I’m _trying_ ,” Yang whined, pushing her head back into the pillow. “Do you have anywhere to go today?”

“I was gonna go over to Weiss’ place for lunch but I’ll cancel-“

“Invite her over here, we’ll have lunch together.”

Blake considered it for a moment, before the thought of “that might be awkward” was outweighed by “finally, some normality.”

“Okay, I’ll text her,” Blake said. She thought that this might actually be fun. 

* * *

Lunch had turned into dinner and by the time Weiss was on her way to the apartment, Yang had fallen asleep. Her loud snores being the only noise in the room apart from the TV idly playing music in the background. Yang had eaten the food Blake brought her, spouting a few grateful comments, then cuddled into her side until she fell asleep. That was one of the few things Blake could live without; the snoring. Sun was worse, but Yang was still bad. Especially after she had been drinking. Alcohol just amplified Yang’s... _everything_. 

She perched herself on the armchair, one of the many places she had claimed as her own in the apartment this week. Sitting at the window was her next choice. It was cold, a small draft coming through, but the windowsill was large enough for her to lie up on. But the best place, of course, was lying on top of Yang wherever she may be. Her phone buzzed in her lap. 

** [Weiss: 18:30]  **

Is it flat 4/2?

** [Blake: 18:30] **

yep, the doors unlocked so just come in. 

She decided to continue looking through her phone as she waited for Weiss to appear. No texts or missed calls from Sun. A part of her expected an apology, maybe. Or even just a “hey, sorry for being an assuming douche, see you when you get back?” She didn’t even know why it bothered her. Actually, she did. Blake just wanted to know she could break up with him and know that he would be good enough for someone else. Just wanted him to be that nice guy, even if she didn’t like him-

‘ _Oh fuck, I don’t even like him,_ ’ Blake thought. The realisation made her scratch her head, baffled by her own mind. It wasn’t exactly an unexpected revelation, but she hadn’t exactly realised it until this point. She drew a hand through her bangs, hair soft and fresh from the shower she had taken a few hours ago. There was absolutely no shame in the way she doused herself in what was considered to be Yang’s scent. It was something primal, still stuck in some people’s subconscious.

Her head swivelled towards the door when it clicked open, Weiss waving as she stepped inside. “Hey, we picked up pasta on the way,” Weiss said as she waltzed inside, dropping the back onto the kitchen counter. Weiss tended to take over every room she walked into, not that anyone complained. Blake found herself pausing on the word ‘ _we_ ’ and looking over at the doorway. Ruby smiled and waved, stepping inside.

Blake’s heart sank.

She loved and missed Ruby _so much_ , but she was _the last_ person she wanted to see right now. Especially in Yang’s apartment. Especially, when she had been fucked on every surface in this apartment by Ruby’s sister. Especially, when she was _engaged to another man_. Blake’s head spun, but she had to ground herself, couldn’t panic about this. She was in deep and she had to get through it. Had done this to herself, solely her fault. Whatever the consequences, Blake would just have to take them.

“Weiss didn’t even mention you were coming,” Blake said, laughing nervously as she crossed the room to hug Ruby. If Weiss had mentioned Ruby was coming over she would’ve made sure to get her panic over and done with before they arrived. But she would just have to power through. “Yeah, thought I’d surprise you. Where’s Yang?” Ruby asked, slightly patting Blake’s back in their hug.

Blake pursed her lips and half pointed towards the bedroom, a loud snore escaping through into the living room. Ruby rolled her eyes and moved behind the counter, helping Weiss unpack the bag. “It’s so good to see you...” Blake mumbled, biting her bottom lip to stop the smile. Weiss smiled over at her and rolled her eyes. “I always knew there was a heart in there, somewhere,” she said dryly.

Ruby scoffed and jabbed Weiss with her elbow. “Like you’re one to talk Ice Queen.”

“You haven’t heard? The Ice Queen has been thawed,” Blake said, deciding to help place dishes and cutlery out for them in the cramped space. Ruby hummed, seemingly excited about this revelation. “You both know I’m right here, don’t you?” Weiss growled, although she didn’t seem all too intimidating anymore. Ruby rolled her eyes and threw her thumb in Weiss’ direction, smirking at Blake. “How long until Pyrrha gets sick of the attitude?” A playful jab, Blake had missed those.

“You’re both such assholes.”

“No, me and Ruby are just being honest.” A loud snore from the bedroom made Ruby glance over and shake her head. It turned into a half snort a moment later. “Should we wake her?” Ruby asked, chuckling and scratching her head. Weiss shook her head and waved off the idea as she scooped some pasta on to a plate. “She’ll be fine,” Weiss said. 

“So, how are you?” Blake asked, directed at Ruby. She was hoping that question would keep her occupied for the time being. Ruby nodded to herself, idly skidding around the kitchen. “I’m good. I’m working at my dad’s garage right now with Yang.” The three of them moved over to the sofa, with their plates, cutlery and drinks in hand.

“Weiss said you had a girlfriend?” Blake raised an eyebrow, smiling before eating a bite of her food as politely as she could. To put it nicely, Ruby had always been the baby of the group. She was Yang’s younger sister so, naturally, Blake tended to slip into that role of acting like she was her older sister as well. Even years ago, she acted the same way. Would pick Ruby up after classes, drive her to college, make sure she was alright.

Their entire group of friends just ended up doing the same. So when Ruby said she was leaving for another city, they all briefly panicked before remembering that Ruby was an adult who could take care of herself. She didn’t need to be coddled. “Yeah! We met in my mechanical engineering class and we just... _y’know_.”

“I want to finish your sentence and say ‘hookup’ but I know that’s not right.” 

“We went on a few dates. I love Penny though, she’s great.” Ruby sheepishly went back to twiddling the spaghetti in her plate, her fork gathering it in a circle. Blake and Weiss both whistled, gently nudging Ruby with whatever limb could reach her. The brunette cleared her throat, silver eyes seeming to gleam as she looked up at Blake. “We moved in together, too. I think we might end up working in the same lab together if get this mechanical engineering job,” she said, seeming delighted by the possibility.

Ruby, Yang and Velvet had all taken some sort of STEM class at college. Yang had dropped out, convinced that she would be better off just working her way up through a job than going through the education system with no guarantee at the end of it. Velvet had taken biochemistry and was _still_ searching for a job in that field. And Ruby had apparently been the only successful one out of the three in her endeavours.

“Good, you can take us all on vacation with your first paycheque,” Blake said, both she and Weiss chuckling at her dry attempt at humour. Ruby laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re _so_ unfunny,” Ruby said. A few moments of silence passed where they just ate, no words exchanged. They were content with that, a comfortable silence they could sit in without feeling an obligation to speak.

“If you’re wondering why Blake hasn’t shared anything, it’s because she’s just been brooding on my sofa,” Weiss said, smirking. Blake scoffed, leaning back with a sigh. The worst part was that she wasn’t even wrong. “The brooding artist thing wasn’t just a phase?” Ruby grinned, and suddenly Blake remembered how they would all gang up on each other, and how painful it was to be on the receiving end of one of those teases.

“I’m not a brooding artist,” she protested, quietly finishing off her food and taking it over to the dish washer.

“So what are you doing here? At Yang’s place,” Ruby said, voice nonchalant as was the rest of her features. Blake’s breath hitched slightly, she expected the question but had yet to think of what to say. “Are you guys getting back together or something?”

“I... _uh_ , I met her last week at work. Gave her my number and stuff. She was upset a couple times and asked me to come over.” Blake hoped it sounded inconspicuous enough for no follow up questions. It was a half truth, but that was still a full lie. And she honestly hated doing this, it was draining. “She said... she said your dad didn’t send her anything whilst she was in prison.”

“ _Jesus_...” Ruby muttered, visibly gulping before bringing a hand up to her face. Weiss looked shocked, like she had just heard the plot twist in a film. There was a lot they all had to talk about, a lot more than one dinner would solve. Blake couldn’t blame Weiss for looking like she had just seen someone get hit by a truck, because she must feel like she had. Tai, Yang’s dad, was always so nice and loving. Had taken care of Weiss and treated her like a daughter. Treated Blake like she was a part of the family.

So to hear that he hadn’t sent a cent to Yang, his _actual_ daughter, when she needed it most, was more than a little shocking.

Even when they had broken up, if it really came down to it. Blake wasn’t lying when she said she would go back in a heartbeat. Because it was Yang, and Blake _loved_ her. Somehow that meant everything and nothing at the same time. An insane revelation but not really because that feeling had always been there, had never left her. Ingrained into her soul, Yang’s very being somehow woven with hers.

If she could go back, never leave, have the courage to stick through. Blake would do it. Because there was no moving on, she had just proven that to herself. Where was she instead of with her fiancé? At Yang’s apartment, taking care of her, cuddling her, loving her like she should’ve been all this time.

Although, that sentiment would have to go unsaid. For the time being, at least. No one needed that pressure on top of everything else.

And when Ruby glared over at Blake, silver eyes sharpened like knives. Speaking to her and saying: you weren’t there either. There was no way she could pour her heart out anytime soon. 

* * *

Blake waited for Weiss and Ruby to leave before she checked her phone again, too caught up in conversation about Ruby’s life for her to care about much else. It had been awkward, trying to settle back into a rhythm after the bombshell of a comment she dropped about Tai. Maybe it wasn’t her place, but she had always assumed her place was next to the other three girls in the apartment. If not; then she didn’t know where she belonged. 

A few texts and missed calls from Sun flashed up on her phone. 

** [Sun: 21:04]  **

Ok I’m a prick

** [Sun: 21:04] **

Just call me in the morning so I know ur alright

It was half assed and not an apology, so Blake turned her phone off and tucked it into her bag. She was known for switching her phone off, often when she was in the zone writing so there were no distractions from her work. But tonight, she honestly just wanted to ignore the rest of her life and crawl into bed with Yang. Even if she was half asleep and trying her best to munch into a reheated bowl of pasta. 

“You shouldn’t have even mentioned it to Ruby,” Yang said, chewing thoughtfully. She didn’t sound hurt or angry, just like she was stating a fact. “I know, it was stupid. I was just still pissed off from what you had told me,” Blake said, shaking her head slightly. Her hair ruffled off of Yang’s bare shoulder. Her shirt completely stripped to allow her to cool down. 

“No, you’re right. It wasn’t my place to bring it up-“

“Blake, yes it was. In hindsight you did more for me when I was in there than most of them.” 

The raven haired girl wiped a small tear from her eye, willing herself not to get upset over something so trivial. It had once been her place, but it wasn’t anymore. It stung, but it was her own fault. “It’s done now though, let’s just move on from it, huh?” Yang beamed, bags under her eyes and tone flat from still being exhausted despite the long nap. Blake could only nod in agreement with her, cuddling up close. Afraid to lose whatever this was. 

She would have to tell them the truth soon... before she lost what she had, and then some. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! As always, feedback is appreciated, I always love reading everyone’s comments even if I’m not responding. I’m having fun with this series because... I’m all for drama, iwl. Anyways, ciao! 
> 
> My girlfriend: you’ve made a bumbleby au which is basically a controversial Netflix series waiting to happen. 
> 
> Me: I fucking hope so, those bitches owe me money!


	5. A Slight Admittance

A week passed by, then another. Then all of a sudden Blake realised it had almost been a month since she had started seeing Yang again.A few weeks of lying in her bed, eating her food, going drives. It was great, Blake really enjoyed it. She assumed Yang did as well, a few genuine smiles and laughs being effortlessly drawn from her.

Blake hadn’t seen Ruby a whole lot, only a few times when she had been at Yang’s or Weiss’ and they had just so happened to be there at the same time. There was a sense of Ruby avoiding her; she might be subconsciously avoiding Ruby. Blake didn’t know. All she knew was that it was so hard to think of a way to bring up the fact that she was engaged to Sun.

They had decided to go to a drive-in movie together. No clue why they were here to begin with, Blake just walked in from work and Yang asked if she wanted to go out. Blake, of course, said yes and somehow they ended up here. She supposed that’s what she liked about them, it didn’t matter what they were doing, it was always great when they were together.

Both of them were sat in the back of Yang’s truck, a blanket draped over them with random snacks and drinks scattered around them. Years ago they used to do this all the time during the summer. With Yang being naturally extremely warm, she hated going inside. Places often didn’t switch on their AC. So, drive-in movies became their thing. Also stargazing whilst high... they did a lot of that.

“You love these movies and they are _so_ shitty.”

“Okay, film snob,” Yang snorted, gently running her hand across Blake’s stomach. Yang had her arm curled around her, Blake leaning into Yang but also trying her best to hold her too. She had always loved slasher films, Blake didn’t know why Yang liked them. It was something about the cheap scares that made her laugh, or maybe it was because she liked to make fun of the film so Blake would laugh. She didn’t know. But she had grown to enjoy them too over time. 

“What would you do if a demon was in the apartment?”

“There’s already a demon in the apartment. She sits her beers on top of my books and gets them all sticky-“

“That was _one time!_ I said sorry!” Yang whined, tucking her face into Blake’s neck. Blake chuckled, unable to stop how she leaned against Yang, seeking warmth and comfort. A few delicate kisses were placed along her neck, teeth lightly grazing against the underside of her jaw. “How can I make it up to you?” Yang said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“By explaining how the hell you found a drive-in movie at three in the morning?” Blake giggled quietly. It was a genuine question, because this was quite unheard of for her. Lately, she had just been going home and passing out on the couch at Sun’s, just to make a point that she would sleep anywhere in the house if it was convenient to her. She even slept in her office a couple times. Which was petty now that she thought about it, but she was committed.

“Let’s just say the girl who owns the place owed me a few ramen packets.” Yang shrugged, smirking. Before, Blake wouldn’t have known what that meant. But after many heartfelt conversations, she had come to know that ramen noodles were a made up currency inside of prison, exchanging them for different items between prisoners. “And that prompted her to do this, exclusively for you?” Blake raised an eyebrow.

“Kind of. She wanted to do a horror movie marathon, y’know one of those late night things. So she did and I thought you’d like it.”

“Well, I love this, and it’s great,” Blake said, biting her lip hesitantly. A breathy laugh escaped Yang, with a soft smile following after. Blake pulled back slightly so she was sat in Yang’s lap, hand pressing down on her collarbone. “ _But_?” Yang questioned in an attempt to further pry an answer out of Blake. 

“ _But_ , I was hoping to talk to you about something...” Her heart sped up after saying that, because she hadn’t actually planned on saying anything to her tonight. But she had been thinking about it all day, the whole time she was with Yang. Thought she might combust if she kept this from her any longer. Because she didn’t want to hurt Yang, didn’t know if this would break her heart or not.

Yang nodded, rubbing circles on Blake’s hips with her thumbs. Somehow, she was always so understanding. Didn’t treat anything as a burden or an end, only an obstacle they could overcome together. “Is it important?” Yang asked. She nodded her head, heartbeats thrumming in her ears, pounding like a drum. The blonde seemed to catch on to the fact that Blake was an extreme level of nervousness. Maybe it was how her heart raced, or how shallow her breaths had become. Possibly even how her hands shook slightly.

“Well... why don’t we enjoy this right now,” Yang smiled, gesturing to the film playing behind them. “Then tomorrow, we can go out for dinner or something and we can talk then.” 

“Okay,” Blake says, taking in a breath. She nodded and smiled, lightly gripping Yang’s shoulders to steady herself. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Cool....” Yang softly breathed out, lilac eyes studying Blake. She carefully shifted until she was sitting at Yang’s side again, giving her a side hug as they settled back into watching the movie. It was a comfort whilst her mind raced. The movie was utter bullshit, kids getting picked off one by one at a summer camp. Which Blake would normally be uninterested in, but right now she needed the distraction. Just for a moment.

Blake sat upright upon remembering a few details about Yang’s day. “How did your therapy session go?” Blake asked, now calmly stroking the blondes arm. “I think it went well... it was kind of awkward at first though,” she chuckled.

“I’ll bet, what happened?”

There was an awkward pause where Yang stammered, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Blake raised an eyebrow at this, it being an odd expression for Yang and one that Blake certainly hadn’t seen before. Actually, she had seen her do this a few times, but never in this type of scenario. ‘ _How strange,_ ’ she thought, but chalked it up to her just being a little shaken from her therapy. Yang never did like opening up. 

“The therapist didn’t even ease me into it or anything, she just dove straight into the questions,” she said, scratching her nose and turning her head so she could face Blake. “ _Super_ fucking difficult questions as well like; ‘Do you think _blah blah_ happening in your childhood affects your behaviour now?’, ‘Do you feel like your relationship with your father has more of a negative impact on you?’ or ‘How did your time in prison make you feel?’” 

“Were you okay answering all of that?” Blake looked over her, leaning down to place a gentle kiss onto her shoulder. She was genuinely concerned that Yang wouldn’t be able to answer questions such as that. So, when Yang had told her during the week that she had booked herself in for a therapy session at the request of Ruby, a little bit of panic seeped in. Afraid that she would be more upset leaving than going in. 

Contrary to popular belief amongst some of their friends, Blake wasn’t the damsel in distress getting saved by Yang. If anything, they helped lift each other up and it was a core part of their relationship that she personally deemed as extremely healthy. Blake might’ve been haunted by the past, a red-headed demon who clung to her back and sunk his nails into that scar on her hip. She might’ve been saved by Yang in that moment, in those many moments where she was at her lowest. But that didn’t mean she didn’t do the same for Yang.

Yang had more skeletons in her closet than Blake could count. Their bones used to rattle against that closet door at night, startling Yang into a panic where only Blake could calm her down. Up until the age of sixteen, Yang had believed that both of her mothers were dead. Her actual mom, Raven, her death had never been explained to Yang. But her step-mom, Summer, she had been there when the news of her passing was delivered.

Blake could vividly remember when Yang first told her about Summer. Could still see the way she tried to hold back the tears by gripping her own arm so hard that her nails left harsh red marks on the skin. It was heart breaking, hearing about the woman she loved’s upbringing. After Summer passed, Tai shutdown, locking himself away from his kids to drown himself in alcohol. Yang was only a child but she still took on the responsibility of looking after herself and Ruby. 

And from there stemmed Yang’s increasing amount of trauma that she repressed the hell out of. It peaked when she found out Raven was never dead, she was very much so alive and a part of a _gang_. A gang involved with a drug ring to be more specific, screwing her business partners over at whatever chance she got. Blake remembered going with Yang to meet her, then several months later Yang was heartbroken at who her mother actually was. 

All of those things, all of those years of buildup, Yang’s recent experience with prison. It all proved to be too much. Blake hadn’t exactly helped either. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for Yang breaking her arm as she broke down a door for her, then somehow avoiding Adam’s wrath for doing so. It was all haunting experiences; skeletons in her closet that now cackled at all hours of the day. Feeding Yang habits she could never break from. Sleep being a dream she was never allowed to have, plagued by nightmares who whispered ill intentions.

Blake tried to fight those battles in Yang’s stead, providing comfort where she could. The blonde seemed to be soothed by her, like a child and their teddy bear. Which was fairly accurate when they slept beside each other. Every morning she woke to Yang’s arms tightly wrapped around her, face tucked into her neck and snoring contentedly. It was nice, knowing Yang was trying to get back into a good place.

“I was fine answering those questions, it just took me a minute or two to get, an answer for them,” Yang said as she adjusted the blanket over Blake’s exposed arm. The raven haired girl nodded, able to see how she would need a moment to vocalise her thoughts to the therapist. She had never been herself, never seen the point in it, but she could imagine the experience. “Did you feel better after it?” Yang nodded, the confirmation making Blake smile softly.

“Yeah, it was hard but it was nice to vent about it, y’know. Get a little clarity with everything.”

“Well that’s good, I’m glad,” Blake says, still smiling as she sweeps a few strands of Yang’s hair out of her face. “You’ve been sleeping better too.”

Yang hummed her approval, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of Blake playing with her hair. She was the only person allowed to do so. Lately, Yang hadn’t been sleeping well. She explained that she was still stuck in some of her prison habits, waking up and having meals at certain times. Apparently, having Blake around was cozy enough to make her fall back into a normal sleeping pattern. Now able to wake up at eight o’ clock on her days off instead of five. Not exactly the lie in experience Blake envisioned, but they were getting there.

“Speaking of sleep, you look tired,” Yang said, sniggering at Blake. She chuckled and shrugged, saying, “I am, but you sounded really excited about this movie thing when you called. Plus I wanted to see you.”

“We can ditch the end of this if you want. Go home and climb into bed.” There was a hopeful lilt to Yang’s voice, like she wanted that more than Blake did. “Yeah, that sounds good,” Blake said. They shared a short kiss before they began to pack up and leave. Bed and cuddling with Yang sounded more appealing than the film they were watching. Actually, more appealing than anything. 

* * *

“I thought we were going out for dinner?”

“We are, I just need to go over to Weiss’ first. I won’t be long.”

Blake was packing her laptop and a few drafts she had printed and scribbled all over. She and Weiss had been working on lyrics for original songs. Weiss wanted to branch out from covers and make a name for herself, and Blake was all too happy to help with her friends success. However, she still had a few of her own drafts that she wanted to go over. Possibly a few things she didn’t want Yang to see just yet.

“How am I supposed to survive a few hours without you?” Yang whined, dropping her head onto Blake’s shoulder and loosely draping her arms around her waist. Blake chuckled, bringing her hand up to weave through Yang’s hair and gently scratch at her scalp. “I’m sure you’ll cope. Oh, here’s a thought, make a list of all the shows you need to catch up on since you went to prison.” Glancing into the TV reflection, she knew that suggestion left Yang _elated_.

“Yeah, that’d be fun. I haven’t really watched anything since I got out,” Yang said, leaving a kiss on Blake’s cheek before diving for the TV remote. Blake took solace in the fact she would be leaving Yang perfectly happy to scroll through Netflix and pick out shows for them to watch before she gets a bomb dropped on her at dinner tonight. The thought made Blake shudder but it had to be done.

Swinging her satchel over her shoulder, Blake looked over at Yang, who was already engrossed in her show searching. “I’ll see you tonight then, alright?”

“Yep, just call me when you’re on your way back,” Yang said. They both smiled at each other, saying small goodbyes before Blake left for the next few hours at least.

Her car door clunked closed when Blake got inside of her car, satchel slung into the passenger seat and shoulders rolling back. She didn’t know how she was quite so nervous about going over to Weiss’ house, possibly a sixth sense that something was wrong. She tended to get those. Although the idea of confessing what had been going on to Yang was much more nerve wracking than the unknown. And that really must say something. 

The entire car vibrated as she drove, ringing and signalling that someone was calling. More specifically, Sun was calling. She reluctantly answered.

“Hey, what’s up?” She asked, thinking that the nonchalant answer might fool him. “Nothing, what you up to?” Sun inquired.

“Going to Weiss’, had to run to the store.” This lying had to stop, it was really getting to her.

“Well, listen I’ve got a job up in Bakersfield so I’ll be gone for the weekend. Just thought I’d call to keep you posted,” he said. She caught the mumble of ‘not that you care’ moments later, but she didn’t comment on it. Because this couldn’t have worked out any better for her. She had the _entire_ weekend to spend with Yang and talk things out, plus it was her weekend off which meant she had all the time in the world.

“Okay well...” Blake debated what to say, wondering how she should even respond. But then she thought, _fuck it_. If she’s gonna come clean to Yang may as well tell Sun too. “I’ve gotta talk to you when you get back-“

“Yeah Nep, I’m coming! Sorry- yeah sounds good. I’ve gotta go.”

And without a goodbye, he was gone. Although that was Sun, she supposed. When they first started dating his friends complained that they never saw him, now she was complaining that he was always with his friends. The problem was that Sun didn’t know how to balance things, it was all or nothing for him. Never learned how to compromise. But Blake supposed that it didn’t matter now. 

* * *

She parked in front of Weiss’ house, strolling along the path and cracking the door open like it was her own. Blake basically lived here, was here every other day so she may as well. The house smelled as if it had just been dowsed in air freshener, the creme carpets extremely bright after no doubt just being cleaned. 

“Weiss? It’s Blake!” She yelled, closing the door behind her. Weiss’ head popped out from the kitchen, a glass of wine in hand as she looked down the hallway at her. “Didn’t think you’d be over until tonight,” Weiss said as she disappeared back into the kitchen. Blake followed her voice through the house, into the kitchen and to the makeshift bar Weiss had made for herself. 

Despite Weiss’ personal issues with her family and alcohol, she took to indulging herself in a drink or two. Her logic had been that if she could drink it all then there would be none left for her parents. Which was _illogical_ and childish, but it brought her comfort thinking that would somehow be possible so Blake let her laugh about that every now and then. 

Blake sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen, just realising what Weiss was wearing. A silk midnight-blue robe that clung to her, matching slippers that were half falling off of her feet and her hair tied up into a messy bun. It left the scar on her face exposed, especially with the lack of makeup. She had gotten it from a particularly nasty argument with her father, which resulted in him whipping a bottle of wine over her head, the glass smashing and leaving a scar across her eye. She had been lucky not to be concussed. 

Since then, Weiss had drank wine a lot more. Using it as some sort of symbol. It couldn’t kill her, so she would enjoy it. Red liquid poured into the glass, sipping from it like it was the blood of Christ; a sacred symbol to her alone. In this case the blood of Weiss’ eye. Blake respected that, in way. It meant that she wouldn’t let anyone get on top of her.

“So I’m guessing you’re having a lazy day?” Blake said, leaning against the counter and watching as Weiss fixed her a glass of water from the dispenser on her refrigerator. “That would be the polite way of saying I’ve did fuck all today,” Weiss said, chuckling and flicking an eyebrow skywards in amusement. Blake chuckled back and thanked her as she took the glass of water from Weiss.

“Pyrrha came over last night, we talked.”

“Explains why you’ve got your best robe on.”

“Fick dich.” (Fuck you.)

Weiss spun on her heel, taking a sip from her wine glass as she leaned back against the counter. “We were just talking though, it wasn’t anything too exciting. Just that we _might_ go on a real date soon.” She made air quotes around the word ‘might’ with her free hand, all of her amusement from the moment before dropping. Blake puffed out a sigh.

“She’s busy with her job and, _to be fair,_ ” Blake said, wincing slightly as she pointed to herself, “I’ve been here a lot and that hasn’t helped at all.”

“But that’s the thing, even when you’re here she hasn’t even been like ‘oh, Blake’s over, let’s arrange some other time’ but she doesn’t.” Weiss rolled her eyes and took another sip from her glass, seemingly to shut herself up. “It’s bullshit- _anyways_. What’re you doing here so early?”

“I’m going out for dinner with Yang later...” her finger idly traced the rim of her glass, biting her tongue between her teeth. “I’m gonna tell her about Sun, so if I call you-“

“If it goes wrong you can come over,” Weiss says as she flashes a rare soft smile. “Don’t worry about that, I’ve got you.”

“Have I ever told you that I don’t know what I’d do without you?” Blake sighed wistfully. There were many times when Blake knew she would’ve been screwed without Weiss. Whether it be getting way too drunk and needing Weiss to come get her or extreme situations like her... _affair_. Blake shivered at the word, it was very Jane Austen and made her cringe. Another laugh and Weiss shrugged. “You don’t have to, I already know,” she says as she rolls her neck.

Of course, Weiss knew that she was Blake’s saving grace. Their friendship was a series of getting caught up in each other’s misadventures. Just a couple months ago Blake had to speed to some random address to pick up Weiss, only to see her sprinting down the street with her heels in her hand shouting ‘open the door!’ at her. Only when she got inside the car did Blake find out that she was picking Weiss up from a one-night-stand gone wrong. It was safe to say that Emerald Sustrai would not be receiving another call from Weiss anytime, _ever_.

Both of their eyes widened when they heard a knock at the door, before Weiss downed the rest of her wine and began to move towards the door. She slapped her own forehead, the sound echoing throughout the kitchen. “I forgot that Ruby was coming over,” she mumbled, skipping to open the front door.

Admittedly, Blake was very nervous at the mention of Ruby. Because she had a tendency to see straight through everyone. A built in bullshit detector that was rarely wrong because she made sure to check the facts before she said anything. So after just around a month of seeing Yang again, of being friends with Ruby again, it was likely that Ruby may say something to her.

And that was terrifying.

Weiss and Ruby came waltzing back into the kitchen, the brunette smiling as she saw Blake. “Hey, Weiss said you guys are going over lyrics?” Ruby said as she smoothly slid into the stool across from Blake, adjusting the neck of her hoodie. The raven haired girl nodded, smiling and tapping her finger off of the pile of printed drafts. “Yeah, a few of these are potential final drafts I think,” Blake said, an excited little bump to her voice.

“Cool! Can I see?”

“Knock yourself out, just know that they’re still a work in progress,” she chuckled, vaguely nervous about Ruby looking over their work. Ruby nodded quickly before gently taking the papers from Blake, looking through them with an excited grin on her face. Her childish nature would always be cute, like watching your younger sister get excited over your work. Which, in a way, it was. Even after all these years it still felt that way.

Blake looked to Weiss who was scuttling around behind her. She had wriggled her way into a t-shirt and sweatpants at some point, a pair of sneakers being pulled from seemingly nowhere. “I need to run out to the store, I’ll be, like, ten minutes,” Weiss mumbled, glancing up and meeting Blake’s gaze for a moment. Ruby and Blake raised an eyebrow at each other before looking back over to Weiss.

Ruby pointed to the empty glass whilst still looking at Weiss before saying, “Weren’t you just drinking?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine. I only had a couple.”

“A couple bottles, are you sure we shouldn’t come with?” Ruby asked. Blake watched Ruby accidentally give herself a paper cut, flicking her hand before sticking her thumb inside of her mouth. She giggled, shaking her head; Ruby also laughed at her own distress. The white haired girl waved them off, kicking her toes into the ground to fix her sneaker. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it!”

With those final words being said, Weiss skipped off. She heard the front door click shut, signalling that Weiss had actually just decided to go to the store after drinking. Blake had no clue if she was driving or not, but she hoped she wasn’t. Or else she might have to pick Weiss up from a precinct later.

A few silent moments passed, where Ruby read over their lyrics and Blake reread her own personal drafts. It was nice, she enjoyed the brunettes presence. Always had, even years ago. There was something comforting about Ruby’s little ticks, like how she would tap the table or bounce her knee. Stupid and simple little things that she recognised in both Yang and Ruby.

“I like both of the mirror mirror songs, they’re very... _Weiss_ ,” Ruby chuckled, Blake joined in as well. There was really no other analogy because the songs were about Weiss, about her struggle growing up. So to be helping write these with her, it was a big deal. At least to Blake it was, Weiss might just be drunk and agreeing with her, read to grab a mic and test out the new song in a moments notice.

“Yeah, she’s been super excited about it all. More and more people are hiring her for gigs.” Ruby hummed in response, smiling slightly as she flicked through the papers. The paper drafted across the counter as Ruby put it back down, standing up and going to help herself to some water. “It’s good that she’s finally getting somewhere, she’s always been great at singing...” Ruby said, a wistful little sound slipping into her tone. 

Back in college, the heartbreaking revelation had been that both Ruby and Weiss really liked each other. But Ruby was asexual and... well they both decided it just couldn’t work for them. They stayed friends, obviously, but Blake knew there was a part of them that would always wish they could’ve been more. It was a shame, but at least now they were moving on.

“Yang said you’re liking this new job you’ve got,” Blake said, leaning on her hand. The brunette nodded, her short hair bobbing with her. “Yeah, it’s great. I get to spend all day with Penny and do what I love. It’s a win-win,” she said, looking down at her glass. Ruby cleared her throat looking up at Blake. There was a seriousness behind her eyes that told Blake this was the talk. This was the part where Ruby was going to lay into her.

“I found out that you’re engaged.”

The abruptness of it threw Blake off slightly, very taken aback by it. Sure, this had been expected, but Ruby said it in such a way that it shook her. “You were tagged in a few photos from Weiss with this blonde guy, so I looked and saw that he was your fiancé...” A stillness took over the room, blood rushing through each chamber in her heart, the walls threatening to crack from the pressure of this conversation - ready to leave her bleeding on the floor.

“Ruby-“

“No, don’t give me any ‘you’re misunderstanding’ story, just tell me what the fuck is going on,” Ruby pleaded, honestly sounding more upset about it than Blake was. The raven haired girl nodded, slowly exhaling through her nose. She needed to clench her fist a few times, rubbing circles in her palm with her thumb just to calm herself down. It was hard, but she needed to do this. Yang and Ruby deserved this much.

“I’m...” for some reason all of the words caught in Blake’s throat, all words evading her. She had nothing to say. Ruby shook her head and puffed out a breath of air, disbelieving what was going on in front of her. “Is it just sex? Is that it?” Ruby spat, and Blake was appalled that she could even think that.

“ _No_ , of course not! You really think that, _after everything_ , I could only have _that_ with Yang?”

“I don’t know, _maybe_?” Ruby shrugged, she looked pained by this revelation. Possibly more so than Blake herself. There was confusion mixed with anger, clouding her features and turning that childish innocence sinister. Blake closed her eyes and bit her lip, softly breathing to try and calm herself. She knew her hands were trembling. Knew that she was nervous. But she told herself that she wasn’t allowed to feel like this right now, this had to be done.

“You... you of all people should know how I feel about your sister. How I’ve always felt about her-“

“I don’t, because I haven’t seen you in _forever_.”

“Well, I’m telling you now, that I’ve never felt this way about anyone and that includes my fiancé...” Blake said, sighing. It was a strong admittance that honestly lifted a weight off of her shoulders to say out loud. Even if it was to the wrong person. Ruby ran a hand through her hair, mouth parted slightly as she bit her tongue, shaking her head again. Her hand gripped her own hair, silver eyes boring into Blake, scalpels ready to dissect and analyse until she was satisfied with what she found.

“Why don’t you just tell her that?”

“I’m literally having dinner with her tonight so that we can talk about this,” she said breathily. Her lungs were fighting for oxygen, the anxiety of this situation stealing all of the air from her. A lump sat in her throat- no not a lump, more like a boulder. She felt like she was bleeding, felt bare, like Ruby had successfully went through with her mental surgery but hadn’t quite stitched her back up yet.

“You’re leaving that guy for Yang...” Ruby mumbled. It was a conclusion to their mild argument, yet it didn’t feel like it had solved anything at all. If anything, Blake was more nervous now than she was before. Didn’t know if she had the energy to keep going through with all of these confessions tonight. “I am,” Blake admitted, before she even knew she was doing so. “ _Fuck_...” Ruby sighed.

Tonight... she would come clean. She just hoped Yang would be alright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volume 8 news delayed this chapter because I was so hyped at the thought of Ruby vs Yang. 
> 
> Anyways I hope u guys enjoyed, not to spoil but... um... 👀


	6. Confession

Ruby left not long after their talk, deciding that she didn’t want to sit in this environment they had created. She wasn’t mean about it, not really. It was understandable that she was angry with Blake, and Blake reasoned that Ruby could’ve done much worse than a heated conversation. Weiss came back not that long after, satisfied with what she had amassed on her shopping trip.

“I would say I’m sorry that I went out, but I think it worked out for you,” Weiss said as she plopped down onto the sofa next to Blake. “How _, exactly,_ would you consider that working out for me?” Blake questioned, rolling her head along the back of the sofa to face Weiss. They had to move from their usual spot in the kitchen to the living room, the situation requiring more comfort than usual. 

“Because you can consider it practice.” 

“I don’t like that it makes sense.”

“You don’t like a lot of things,” Weiss mumbled into her glass. She had switched out the wine for water, deciding she would have to stop drinking at some point today. There was also her small rant about keeping her teeth pristine white, which Blake admired. She could star in a toothpaste commercial if she wanted to. 

Blake groaned and slapped her hands over her face. “I’m _so_ fucked,” she grumbled. 

“Agreed-“

“You’re supposed to be supporting me.”

“Call it tough love,” Weiss sighed. A little shake of her head followed, then another sigh. “You’ll be fine though... I mean- it’s Yang. She’s miss ‘we can work this out’.” 

They both chuckled slightly, frowns overturning into giddy smiles. Blake couldn’t deny that Yang would always try to figure out how to fix something before she dismissed it entirely. This would probably be no different. “You’re lucky... Yang would do anything for you,” the silver haired girl said, idly tapping her thumb off of her glass. Blake tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, curious as to why she would bring that up. 

“I suppose, but most of the time I have to stress that it isn’t necessary to her.”

“Yeah, but she’d still do it,” Weiss laughed. She delicately crossed her legs, bracing her elbow on the back of the sofa. Gentle smiles and mischief overtook their features, Blake had to admit that she missed this. Acting like they were still nineteen and gossiping with each other. Which often ended in the most inappropriate of conversations. “She’d let you... drip wax down her or something.”

Like now, for example. It was descending into _one of those_ chats. Actually, this was a good distraction for her.

“Nope, tried it, she really doesn’t like it,” Blake said. She hooked her legs up onto the sofa, getting comfy. “What about, like, BDSM? Seems like a Yang kind of thing,” Weiss said, stretching her legs out now. Blake hummed, she didn’t want to share entire details, but she supposed it wasn’t exactly embarrassing. “Sometimes,” she said.   


There was a laugh followed by a scarred eyebrow flicking upwards. “ _Why_ are we talking about my sex life?” Blake questioned, a little spiky after being laughed at. Honestly, it was always a little awkward to talk about this with someone who wasn’t her partner. She could ease herself into it, make herself comfortable after she realised it was just Weiss. But she mostly just avoided these talks.

There was a soft hum that bounced off of the glass as Weiss took a sip from it. “Only because I wanted to bring up Neptune’s weird kink, I was talking to him the other night. He said he was really into food.” Another eyebrow flip, but Blake didn’t follow. She tilted her head to the side again, chuckling and shaking her head, asking, “As in...?”

“As in,” Weiss started, lips up turning into a smirk, “he’s into eating food off of people. Like licking cream or something off of someone.”

That... for some reason _that_ set off alarm bells for Blake. Something slotting into place that shouldn’t be. It wasn’t that she was into that sort of thing herself, no. More like Neptune being into that was somehow a little useful to her, how _extremely_ odd. She may have to look into that later if all is smooth sailing with Yang.

“What’s Pyrrha into?”

“How would I know that?”

“Because you’re seeing each other-“

Weiss groaned, head falling back against the sofa. It was always different when the shoe was on the other foot. Since Blake could remember from the start of their friendship, whenever they would talk about anything remotely personal, it would somehow always end up like this. With one asking the other a question and then there was a complaint or twenty about how they didn’t want to talk about it.

Blake sighed and looked over Weiss. She didn’t look angry, or upset- actually, she didn’t even look annoyed. Only sadness resides in her ocean eyes, features drowning in a sort of sorrow that extended to her hands that lay limp on her chest. “You can tell me... you don’t have to but you can, if you want to,” Blake says. The silver haired girl shook her head, a crestfallen look replacing everything else.

“I’ve... I am waiting for her. And I have been waiting for her. It’s just really hard,” she breathed, lightly dragging her foot up along her own leg. “And I don’t know if it’s worth it to keep waiting because I... have feelings for her. Because what if that’s not enough?”

The raven haired girl hummed, understanding what she was trying to say. “Wow, Weiss Schnee loves someone. Should I call TMZ?”

“Sei kein arschloch.” (Don’t be an asshole). Weiss chuckled, tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. “You know I love you too,” she whispered, blushing shyly which made Blake think she was embarrassed to say it out loud. Blake smiled, safe in the knowledge that even if all failed, she would still have Weiss. 

“Are we gonna have a ‘I know you’re my friend but I’d fuck you if you asked’ moment?” Weiss slapped Blake’s arm, both of them giggling like children.

“It’ll be worth it, if you wait for her,” Blake says, coming down from her laughter and a tiny smile settling on her face. “I think love is always worth waiting for. But it never does come easy, does it?”

Blake was a firm believer in love. Supposed she always had a romantic streak in her since she was a child. Even if her tastes in books and movies may vary, romance was always the one that drew her in. As a child she was wrapped up in this fantasy of meeting the perfect guy, that perfect guy being some handsome freedom fighter in her eyes. Unfortunately, she discovered real life was nothing like a fairytale, and that she was just too naive to have not seen that before.

However, even though her heart bled through the pages of those books. Tears staining the centre of the page, a few paragraphs here and there blurred over the passage of time. When she met Yang something just... _changed_. There was no competition, somehow rigged from the start because she had already won. Blake never complained, not once, not ever. She would turn the planet inside out and abandon everything just to be with her... and Blake thought that feeling was worth pursuing.   


Because without that feeling, Blake believed, that everyone would be empty. Hollow shells that only cared for money and success. Being alone and loveless was why millionaires killed themselves. Those who have it all discovering they didn’t have everything, in the end. So she often wrestled with what was more important in her life. Intense feeling versus stability. Which one made her alive? 

“Nothing ever comes easy for me,” Weiss chuckled, scratching her head. “It’ll be fine, I’m just overthinking. But this brings us back to our topic if the day: _Yang_.”

She felt like rolling her eyes, but the reality was that she couldn’t. Not because she felt guilty, but because anything involved with Yang made her feel giddy and nervous. Which she rightfully should be, because her revelation had the potential to break Yang. “What about her?” Blake asked, an innocent enough question.

“Do you think _this_ will all be worth it in the end? That Yang’s gonna come pick you up in her truck and drive off into the sunset with you?” She smirked, adding the little joke to lighten the mood.

Blake pondered the question for a moment, wondering herself what the answer may be. Before she finally answered, “I hope so. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, really.”

It was true. For as often as Blake fought between her heart and her mind; her heart eventually won. Emotions taking over and dictating her actions, fuelling the fire within. She supposed she learned it from Yang. Blake considered Yang to be a beginning and an end for her. The beginning of change and the happy ending. In any case, it was all she ever wanted. 

* * *

Driving to Yang’s apartment complex was nerve wracking to say the least. Blake’s hands trembled on the wheel and more than once did she think she might lose her grip on the steering wheel, nails digging in just to keep herself stable. She learned to compose herself, though. Called Weiss twice, who then gave her a semi-pep talk before asking Blake if there were any cupcakes left in the kitchen.

The yellow truck outside stood proudly, glistening in the evenings sunset. As did the blonde standing next to it, smiling when she saw Blake in her car. Her beat up black sedan somehow still standing even after her few scuffles with pavements and mailboxes. Blake was already comforted by the sight of Yang, because she had always brought solace to her. 

She let out a tiny sigh, unlocking the doors so Yang could come inside. It was shocking how good she looked in just a long sleeved t-shirt and jeans, criminally gorgeous all the time. Blake didn’t know whether her heart was melting or exploding, it all felt the same at this point. Destruction and recreation, melding together to revive themselves and live in a perfect harmony. 

Yang popped the door open, sliding into the passenger seat and muttering a soft ‘hey’ as she leaned over to give Blake a chaste kiss.

“Did you get my text about that little Italian place?” Yang asked, briefly breaking eye contact to fix her seatbelt. Blake hummed, swerving out of the street and back into traffic. “Yeah, it’s in the sat-nav,” Blake said, emphasising her point by tapping her finger on the tiny screen.

“Cool...” they settled into a comfortable silence, Yang idly scrolling on her phone and Blake just focusing on the road. It was strange to think that someone might overhear them in this restaurant. She grimaced, actually that was a terrifying thought. Because someone that they knew could _easily_ be in here, somehow everyone knew each other here in LA.

“So what’s this talk about, miss mysterious vibes?” Yang joked, sliding her phone back into the pockets of her jeans. “Because if it’s kind of personal we can always eat in the car.”

Blake hummed in response, pretending to consider that for a moment. There was no doubt that she would choose to do that, the privacy being more welcome than anything. “Sounds good,” she said, smiling as she glanced over at Yang who smiled back.

“I’ll jump in and grab us a pizza or something, then you can drive us off into the sunset.”

‘Now wouldn’t that be nice...’ Blake thought wishfully. Although she did find it slightly odd that she practically parroted what Weiss had said earlier. She questioned if it was fate or sheer coincidence.

“I’ll give you the money for it.”

“It’s fine Blake, I’ll pay-“

“Yang, let’s not do this again,” she sighed, because it was a regular argument between the two of them. They both consistently wanted to spoil the other, so whenever they got the chance to they would jump to pay for; food, gifts, groceries, the list goes on. “I’ll give you half for it, if that makes you feel better.” 

It was a compromise, something they did so well it was practically intrinsic. Coming naturally to both of them, rhyming with the beat and flow of their relationship. Blake thought it was perfect, always had always will. Nothing ever came close to it, and anything that tried would just end in a re-enactment of Icarus. 

“Fine, what kind do you want? Oh, and what kind of juice?” Yang asked, whipping her seatbelt off in preparation to jump out of the car and into the restaurant. There was a certain fire that lit inside of Blake upon seeing the muscles in Yang’s forearm flex under her shirt, which was absolutely pathetic on her part. She decided to blame Weiss for bringing up the talk of kinks earlier. 

“Whatever you’re in the mood for. And just water is fine, thanks,” Blake said, whilst reaching for the glove compartment where she knew her purse was stashed. She popped it open, grabbing the lilac purse that Weiss had bought her. “Here, get yourself something nice,” Blake sang mockingly, Yang giggled at her.

“Oh, the things I could buy with your ten dollar bill,” Yang said, rolling her eyes fondly before leaving the car. Blake watched her walk into the restaurant, growled at a guy who checked Yang out before turning back to his own girlfriend. She exhaled a breath she didn’t know she was holding and began to map out a spot for them to drive to once Yang got back in the car.

Admittedly, this might not turn out well. Yang was no Adam, she wouldn’t flip out and punch Blake. Although she might get a little loud out of sheer shock and panic, it would only be natural after all. She was glad that Yang had suggested to eat in the car, it was more intimate this way. It meant she and Yang could yell at each other if need be. Not that she would ever want to, but people argued. They very seldom argued with each other, even when they did it was never more than a slight raise of their voices.

She decided that she would just drive them down to the pier at Santa Monica, it was close to Yang’s apartment so if she wanted to leave she could and it would be empty at this time. Her head swivelled just in time to catch Yang coming out of the door, two bottles of water in hand and the pizza box balancing on her forearm. Blake laughed incredulously and popped the car door open for her, reaching for the food before Yang dropped it.

It was silly, how that small act was so elating. Often times did she think about small moments like this, because that’s what life was made up of. Grand gestures and life altering moments were few and far between, so Blake had managed to fall in love with the simple parts in between, because they made up the whole, didn’t they?

“Where are we off to?” Yang asked, taking the box back from Blake as she settled into the leather seat. “The pier, it’ll be empty,” Blake said, and that was more than enough shared to get Yang on board. There was no need for more details than that. Yang had a small tendency to follow her blindly, eyes closed and walking on instinct; just following the sound of her heartbeat.

What felt like five minutes later, they were parking on the pier. The sun reflecting off of the water, not blinding but still bright so they moved to the backseat of the car to avoid it. The blonde’s arm settled over the back of the seat, pulling open the box before they both cringed at the smell of food. Blake lowered a window to save them both.

“How was Weiss? Ruby said she went over earlier too, she said your lyrics were looking good,” Yang says as she begins to pull apart the pizza, a habit she kept from her childhood. Blake remembered Yang telling her of how she would pull apart pizza slices so that Ruby would find them easier to eat.

“Weiss is fine, she’s just a little miffed with the whole Pyrrha thing,” Blake said, her hand aimlessly spinning in the air. Despite it being a kind of private matter, she had told Yang the basics of what was going on. Not the major things like Weiss’ feelings on it or anything they actually spoke about. Just that Weiss and Pyrrha were trying to navigate their relationship. Yang understood and nodded.

“Yeah, Pyrrha seems super nervous about everything too. She kept calling Coco to talk about it,” Yang said as she scooped out a slice of pizza for herself. This was something Blake couldn’t do with Sun; gossip. They didn’t have the same group of friends so they were basically an accessory to the other if they went out together. But Yang ran in this inner circle, had always done so. Just one of the many things they had in common, Blake supposed.

“Also I heard Velvet’s having this big night for everyone next week where she’s gonna shut the bar early?”

“Yeah, it’s basically just all of our friends partying together because we haven’t in a while.”

“That’ll be fun, maybe Ruby can bring her girlfriend since you guys haven’t met Penny yet.” Guilt washed over Blake as the mention of Ruby, because she felt bad for how everything went down with her earlier. Actually, she should probably get to the point, shouldn’t she.

“Yeah, so, I need to talk to you about something,” Blake said, awkwardly scratching at her neck. Her heart was in her throat, thumping loudly, tempting her to puke it out onto the ground and just let it lie there for them both to soak in. Yang looked up at her, understanding the tone and staying quiet.

Blake took a shaky breath, saying, “Please promise you won’t freak out though.”

“Of course I won’t,” Yang said, smiling softly. She reached over to gently hold Blake’s hand, rubbing circles with her thumb. “Just tell me.”

“Yang I’m...” she bit her lip and looked downwards, linking her hand with Yang’s. “I’m engaged...”

There was silence for a moment, where Yang must have been processing what she just said. Blake thought it was over, that she would be on her way to Weiss’ in less than a few seconds. But Yang ran her thumb in a little circle over her hand again, squeezing to try and grab her attention. She glanced up to see a bewildered Yang looking back at her.

“And here I thought I’d be more Michael Douglas than Benjamin Braddock...” Yang said, drawing a small a laugh from both of them. Blake was strangely elated by Yang’s references, because they were her favourite films and she forced Yang to watch them so many times. What with them being all time classics, or so Blake claimed. “I am a little confused though, why did it take you so long to tell me?”

“I... I don’t know, I just thought you’d hate me,” Blake said, running a hand through her bangs before pressing it into her face, unable to look at Yang without feeling terrible. “I just wanted to be with you and I didn’t want to be with him- it’s a mess, but I made it. I’m sorry...”

“What... what’s he like?” Yang asked, seemingly a little apprehensive. Blake scratched her neck, leaning on the car seat. “He’s not you...” she whispered and Yang chuckled, looking down at their hands. 

“But is he good looking?”

Blake sighed and pulled her phone out, searching through her camera roll to show Yang a photo of Sun. She found one, of himself, because they rarely took photos together. Yang glanced at the phone, humming a little in her response. “You settled for a watered down version of me?” Yang grinned and it was clear that her ego was inflating by the second. Blake chuckled and shrugged. “Like I said, he’s not you.” 

There was silence again, and again Blake thought it was over. Surely one person couldn’t be this apprehensive but willing to keep going along with it. But again, Yang proved her wrong by looking up and smiling softly. Her eyes broken windows to a soul that was somehow still as beautiful as it had always been.

“So that’s why I haven’t been to your place?” Yang asked, eyebrow raised as she did so. Blake nodded, still holding onto Yang’s hand and the blonde seemed to have no intention of pulling away. This hurt more than Blake expected it to, because it was a betrayal of trust on all sides, and she didn’t know how she could ever make that up to Yang.

“Do you hate me?” Blake whispered, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes when they shouldn’t be. She hoped Yang didn’t hate her, because she definitely didn’t hate Yang. The blonde shook her head, letting out a tiny sigh. “I don’t, but can I ask you something else?”

“Anything.”

“Is your fiancé home?”

Blake raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going but she didn’t have to think too hard because she knew Yang so well. “He’s in Bakersfield for the weekend for his work, why?”

“Send me your address, I’ve got an idea or two,” Yang said, smirking with a dark and sinister aura about it. “I’m gonna grab some stuff then I’ll come stay with you tonight.” 

* * *

Blake ended up dropping Yang off at her apartment before going back to her own house. It wasn’t the same way she left it, obviously. Sun had been here, eating and sleeping the day before when she wasn’t. Of course there were things lying around. 

What she didn’t expect was to open the fridge to whipped cream and strawberries, followed by a bunch of other fruit. It was odd, especially for Sun who was more of a ‘grab and go’ kind of guy. But she happily welcomed the fruit, going nicely with her iced water to calm her nerves. 

Yang had called her, saying that they would need to talk about this properly, discuss what this meant going forward. But tonight Yang had a plan, one that she was already having fun with. So heavy discussion could wait until tomorrow, for tonight Yang was the devil and she was about to have a parade to mark her presence. 

**[Yang: 22:08]**

Wot r u wearing? 

**[Blake: 22:08]**

the same thing i was wearing earlier.

**[Yang: 22:08** ] 

U shld probs put smfn on that’s more bedroom appropes ;)

**[Blake: 22:09]**

can’t believe i’m about to sleep with someone who abbreviates ‘appropriate’. 

** [Yang: 22:09]  **

yet here we r 

* * *

Somehow, the house felt nicer already. Blake had heard Yang come inside downstairs, locking the door behind her like Blake had asked. It felt like this was how it was meant to be, that she and Yang should be coming home to each other and no one else, because no one else could fit into this equation.

Blake had a thought of, maybe, if they lived together, Yang would come home to her some nights like this; sitting in bed with a fancy silk robe, whether she wanted eye candy or action was up to her. She swept her hair back onto one shoulder, swift steps coming along the hallway to the only room that had light coming from it.

She clicked off the lamp as soon as Yang opened the door, gaining a grin from her. “You look excited,” Yang said, chuckling as she unzipped her duffel bag, fishing around inside of it for something. Blake shrugged, elegantly crossing one leg over the other as she leaned back on the bed, the mattress dipping slightly under her weight.

“Would it be bad if I was?” She asked, and Yang shook her head, smirking as she began to undress as well. Shortly after, leaving herself in her underwear with a pile of discarded clothes around her. “So, what’s your plan here?” Blake asked, still utterly confused as to what Yang wanted out of this.

She only continued to smirk at Blake’s question, fishing something out of her duffel before turning back to Blake. She held a black leather harness in her hand, a dark purple dildo in the other. And suddenly Blake understood her intentions, making her cheeks turn pink and her lung constrict with a familiar burn.

“Is this alright with you?” She asked, already settling the harness on her hips without waiting for an answer. Blake nodded fervently, because this looked fun and she wanted it. Wanted it because it was Yang and she knew that no matter what it was, it would be fine.

It was when Yang began to crawl across the bed towards her, the mattress completely sunk with both of their weights. When Yang’s lips were on hers and she didn’t want to stop whatever this was. That Blake realised how utterly lost she was to all of this. Because Yang’s hands were tugging at her robe and that was all that mattered, that the two of them were here together. Two bodies intertwined.

Blake was lost, somehow following more blindly than she thought Yang was. No, not following, chasing. Blake chased Yang blindly, chased her voice, her scent, her lips and heartbeat- any trace that she could find. Because once her hands were sunken into taut flesh all other thoughts were replaced only by making the woman in her arms feel like she was the only thing that mattered. 

A part of her recognised how rough Yang was being right now, nails scratching and teeth biting; sure to leave marks. Meticulous in her claim but always stopping to look Blake in the eye just to make sure this was fine, that she hadn’t gone too far. Another part of her recognised that Yang was trying to prove a point. That she was better than Sun, that he could never do what she did. Could never make Blake feel this way. 

She felt safe in the knowledge that this was a secret act between the two of them. Where they were on the brink of something dangerous but they were fine. There was this other realisation of how nasty this was. How disrespectful it was to be having sex with another woman in her fiancé’s bed. But she didn’t stop to even think, not when Yang had her hands around her throat, steadily fucking her into the mattress. And it hurt but it wasn’t painful, she was fine; she was safe with Yang.

They were panting, hot and sweaty and together. Blake could only describe this as pure passion. Love that rose and destroyed; a tornado where they were caught in the centre. It was all that mattered, in the moment, and not even a movie romance could come close to whatever this was between them. Chemistry that had reacted violently but in a positive way- yet it was all so hard to explain. 

Blake was rarely a gambling woman, but she was willing to bet everything just to see where this love would go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everybody, super amped rn listening to the V7 soundtrack. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. 
> 
> Also, quick question, is the way I write hard to read?


	7. Beginnings and Ends

Pain was always something Blake pondered over. Had spent so much time thinking about it that it had become a sort of obsession. Because she had been free of pain for years, free to do whatever she pleased without thinking a hand would grab the back of her head and grind her face into the wall. Whispers telling her not to dare do that again, whatever it may be.

Over the year’s she had sort of flipped pain on its head, a big _fuck you_ to the misery she had endured. So she encouraged Yang to sink her teeth into flesh, to dig her nails into the skin and to give her a few slaps that may leave her ass red and sore. To pull her hair and grab her throat until she was seeing stars haloing Yang’s head. Yang never objected, only worried that she may go too far so she always sought Blake’s guidance until she could continue on her own.

Sun never liked anything more than the vanilla, saying that everything freaked him out without trying it. Blake supposed that maybe that was just how normal people did things, that she and Yang were a different breed, so she coped with that. But it was never _just_ sex, there had become a lack of connection as Sun tried to connect with everyone, here, there and everywhere. Inevitably, it got their wires crossed.

Blake woke up sore, like she knew she would. She wasn’t in pain, because it was all derived from pleasure. A small sigh escaped her, ghosting over Yang’s tanned bicep that she was using as a pillow. She lay on her stomach, deciding any other way would actually be painful for her, so this was the only way she could enjoy that ache in her muscles.

Yang let out a growl of a sigh, rubbing her face before sliding her hand into Blake’s hair. Blake pressed a few kisses on to her arm, eyes fluttering open so she could take in the sight of the small scratch marks she had left there the night before. Her leg was nudged by Yang’s foot, once, twice, three times. Then a small laugh escaped her.

“Fuck off, Yang.”

“You’re awake then?”

“You know I was.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Yang said, Blake didn’t have to see her to know she had a grin on her face as if she had won a watch. “You’re so annoying,” Blake giggled before letting out an appreciative little whine as Yang moved her hair out of her face.

The blonde shifted around under the covers, having to take her arm away from Blake as she sat up. Blake shivered at the air hitting her skin once the covers slid off of her. Yang’s hand traced from the back of Blake’s neck, down her back, to her thighs. Gaze admiring more than leering, touch gentle in case she shattered, acting like she had been pushed so far to the edge that she couldn’t do anything more than support her.

There was a soft grunt as she leaned over, placing a kiss between Blake’s shoulder blades, her arm snaking under Blake’s stomach to hold her. Blake’s breath hitched when Yang’s other hand slid up her thigh to her hip, touching down on a bruise she had left there. She felt Yang still, a silent panic.

“Did I hurt you?” She whispered against her skin, unmoving in case she wasn’t meant to.

“Not in a way I didn’t want you to,” Blake said, reaching her hand back to placed it over the one on her hip. “It was good, don’t worry so much.”

Yang nodded, pressing another kiss to her back. “Okay... _good_ ,” she breathed shakily, still remaining in that same position. The hand under Blake’s stomach petted at her skin, drawing up and down to drag tiny gasps from her. She liked it, had always loved the way Yang pampered her no matter how small.

“Besides,” Blake says, chuckling to herself before she even got the rest of her sentence out. “I’m pretty sure you’re just as banged up.”

Yang laughed, placing a kiss on the back of Blake’s neck before pulling away. She slid out of the bed, pulling the covers back over Blake before she began to move around. Blake just swivelled her head, quietly watching as Yang tried to navigate around the new environment. 

Stark naked, as well, with bright red scratch marks down her back and thighs. Yang scratched her head as she surveyed the pile of clothes on the floor, seemingly unable to find what she was looking for. Taking a risk, Blake rolled onto her back, slowly propping herself up on the pillows behind her. It was a pleasant surprise that she wasn’t as sore as she thought.

“Go into the closet, on the left-hand side there’s a purple dressing gown that should fit you,” Blake said, pointing Yang in the right direction. The blonde followed her instructions, but paused upon seeing the dressing gown, much too large for Blake. She glanced back at Blake then to the article of clothing, scratching the back of her neck.

“Is this your- ah, Suns?”

“No it’s mine. Jaune bought me it but it was too big for me, so I use it as a blanket sometimes,” Blake explained, clutching the quilt to her chest as she sat up. There was no way to stop the little twang of pain deep down upon seeing Yang so sceptical of everything, whether it was out of sheer awkwardness or if she just didn’t believe Blake was beyond her comprehension at the moment. Still dazed from her slumber.

Yang reached for the dressing gown, pulling it on revealed that it fit like a glove. A small smile crept up onto her face as she fixed the belt around her waist. Blake bit her lip to stop herself from smiling right now, but it didn’t hide it any better. Something felt lighter than it had yesterday, or any day prior to that. Maybe the truth finally set her free. 

“Want me to get you some water or something? Tea?” Blake asked, skin rubbing harshly against the sheets as she slid to the edge of the bed, still clutching the quilt to her body. She wasn’t as unabashed as Yang was about being naked, more reserved and wanting to hide her scars. But Yang preferred to pretend her own scars never even existed, the memory of them only angering her.

Blake took pride in her scars, though. It was a show of how she fought and survived. A sentiment they both shared to an extent, until Yang’s ego got in the way. On her right arm, there was a scar that stretched along the length of it. Faded into her skin over time but it was still there, still visible. She had got it after everything with Adam, having broken her arm she had to go in for surgery. The only reason she had damaged it so badly was because she continued to use that arm after the bone had broken, running off of pure adrenaline. Yang didn’t like to be reminded that she could’ve done more.

However, that didn’t mean she didn’t admire scars. Even in the heat of the moment, Yang took the time to carefully brush her hand over Blake’s hip, leaving a kiss on top of it. A part of her always thought it was Yang’s way of wishing she could make it disappear, but she realised it was an act of worship. Admiring how far they had come, that they were still here together. That piece of raised flesh on her hip was a symbol of days long passed. 

“Are you gonna take the whole quilt downstairs with you, or do you want your own gown over?” Yang chuckled, already pulling the yellow dressing gown off of its hanger. Blake chuckled back but never bothered to say anything, knowing Yang would just bring it over anyway. And she did, she held the robe out to Blake as an offering. It didn’t make her predictable, Blake didn’t think so anyway. Only familiar in such a way that only Blake could predict her actions. She liked to believe that anyway. 

“Thank you, but you still didn’t answer my question,” Blake says as she relinquishes herself from the quilt in favour of the gown. Yang nodded, keeping her hand held out for Blake to take hold of. It made her giggle, how Yang offered to help her out of bed. “Only if I get to come with you,” Yang said. 

“Wow, that’s the first time you’ve ever passed up breakfast in bed.” 

“I’m pretty well acquainted with your bed,” she says, smirking. “Let me see the rest of the house.” 

They both chuckled, Blake shaking her head at how dramatic Yang was. Eventually, she relented, keeping hold of Yang’s hand to begin her guide through the house. Small comments on everything filled in the silence, not needing full blown conversation to be content. There was a sort of comfort in seeing Yang’s response to everything. How she would look at a wall and say ‘I don’t like the colour’ or how she would ask why Sun had next to nothing in this house. 

She explained it was because he either didn’t have those things or they were hidden away. Due to an incident where Blake wore a few of his shirts, then Sun proceeded to bitch about it for a week because he wanted to wear one of them, some of their clothes were now separated. It got chalked up to Sun’s childish nature, so she didn’t really bother with it. Just set their things apart and that was the end of it.

Both of them had wound up in the kitchen, Yang sitting at the dining table whilst Blake quietly made them tea. There was a sort of domesticity about it that Blake liked, something warm and fuzzy, and that was more than the feeling of drinking tea. It was like something had bloomed in her chest, petals pressing between her ribs to make itself at home, hoping no one dared to weed it out.

“You don’t have a kettle?” Yang asked, muttering a ‘thanks’ as Blake carefully placed the mugs down onto the table. She shook her head, sliding into the seat across from Yang. “I never bothered. I’m fine using the microwave,” she said and it was such a blatant lie that Yang laughed into her cup, almost choking on her tea.

Lilac eyes studied her again, darting from her neck to the slight gap revealing her collarbone. Blake raised an eyebrow, sipping from her mug. A breath was inhaled sharply, making Blake flick her eyes wider to try and grasp what Yang might be thinking. Yang never said anything, just stared quietly at Blake as she bit down on her tongue.

“Are you sure I didn’t actually hurt you? I was a little heavy handed...”

“I _promise_ you, you’re fine, it was good. Besides I wouldn’t blame you if you were after...” Blake says as she swirls a finger in the air, gesturing to the entire room. “ _This_.”

“I-I wouldn’t hurt you on purpose-“

“Yang, I know. You don’t need to worry over it,” Blake said, smiling softly as she grabbed Yang’s hand across the table. It seemed to calm her as she sighed and smiled back, peeking her thumb out to run it along the length of Blake’s own finger.

“So, that brings us to,” Yang smirked and swivelled her finger in the air, mimicking Blake’s earlier movement. “ _This_.”

“Yeah... I’m sorry for not saying anything sooner,” Blake breathed, pulling her hand back to paw at her mug, feeling too guilty to keep enjoying Yang’s touch. The blonde tapped her thumb off of the table, at a loss for the contact. “Don’t worry about it, but I just want to know what’s going on- because this doesn’t feel like your typical fling,” Yang smirked, although she looked vaguely nervous.

“No it’s... it’s weird- it’s _you_.”

“Me?” Yang scratched the back of her neck before folding both arms over the table, her hand flopped forward as she looked at Blake. Her hair was perfectly disheveled, bangs falling over her face, soft and fluffy. Blake wanted to run her hands through them, to hold her close. “Do you want to be with me?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Blake replied, not even needing a moment to think about it. Which shocked her to an extent; but not really. “Of course I want to be with you.”

“Then what are you doing? Are you leaving him?” She asked, eyes narrowing as she now tried to figure out what Blake was thinking. “I want to, but it’s complicated. I need to pack everything, find somewhere to stay-“

“Well, that’s fine, you can stay with me,” Yang exclaimed, half-smiling as she chuckled. “I mean, I know it’s not ideal but there’s plenty of closet space for your stuff.”

“And you’d be alright with that? Both of us living together,” Blake said, smiling along with Yang. The possibility was both exciting and terrifying, because they had never really lived with each other before. “It’s a lot different from me staying on the weekend, you know.”

“Are you trying to convince yourself that us living together wouldn’t be fantastic?”

“It’d be strange. You work days, I work nights, y’know... I could always stay with Weiss.”

“You’ve got today and tomorrow to think about it, right? Sun’s not back until Monday,” Yang said, reaching across the table to hold Blake’s hand again in an attempt to soothe her. The raven haired girl nodded, out stretching her hand so their hands could intertwine. Yang began to snigger to herself, scratching her nose and biting her lip in an attempt to stop. “The sneaking around reminds me of that time I came out to Salt Lake to visit you.” They both laughed, the memory instantly coming back.

Blake used to live in Salt Lake City, but ended up moving out to LA as a chance to follow her own path. After the first few months of dating Yang, she had to move back out there for a few weeks in the summer to look after the house. Then one night, completely at random, Yang called asking what her address was. Little did she know, Yang had just drove for _ten hours_ to come be with her whilst she was in Salt Lake. Her mom, Kali, was immediately impressed when she found out. They had a fun road trip on their way back to LA. 

“Are you gonna stay here this weekend?” Blake asked, genuinely curious.

“Yeah, I’ve just gotta swing by the garage first but I’ll be back,” Yang said, sighing and settling into a soft smile. Blake pursed her lips and squeezed her hand. She didn’t want to jinx it, but it seemed like this was going well.

“Okay then,” she says, “I just have to talk to Weiss.”

* * *

It had been another day of Weiss lazing around in her pyjamas whilst she moped over Pyrrha, which was unsurprising really. Weiss had texted her saying how she hadn’t heard from Pyrrha yet, but Blake actually knew a few other facts that she had attained from Yang. And, like the good friend she was, she may vaguely allude to them. 

Or she might not, because that might make her a bad girlfriend... actually, she _technically_ wasn’t Yang’s girlfriend. Just the girl she was seeing... _again_. God, her love life was complicated. There was, of course, easier ways of doing the whole breaking up and getting together with someone else thing. But on some rash decision, Blake had decided to do it the hard way. 

“Did I tell you my sister called?” Weiss said, startling the silence that they had both been sitting in. Blake hummed, tapping her phone to see if she had missed any texts from Yang before turning her attention fully to Weiss. “No, what’d she say?” Blake asked, jotting down a reminder on a post-it note to change a lyrics that didn’t fit with the rest of the verse. 

“She said she finally got promoted to chief of police,” Weiss sang, accompanied by a roll of her eyes. “She asked if I wanted to go celebrate with her. She even said she’d pay for me to get a flight to New York to see her.”

“Well, that’s great. When are you going?” Blake asked as she grinned, it was nice to see Weiss talking with her sister again. They had a falling out a few months ago, an argument over how drastically different both of their lifestyles were. One was impressed by the other but also had a list of disappointments to go alongside it. Blake had to assume it was a Schnee thing.

“I’m not going,” Weiss said rather casually, like she had stated a known fact. Something that Blake should’ve known but in this case the thought had never occurred to her that Weiss would turn down the opportunity to go see her sister. “Why not? A weekend in New York could be nice,” Blake said. She knew that if she had the opportunity to go, she would.

“Because what if something happens when I go- like, what if Pyrrha calls and wants to meet up.”

“You realise you’re doing the exact thing you said you wouldn’t do,” Blake said, eyes narrowed at her friend. Weiss had stated many times that she refused to put her life on pause for anyone. She would wait, always available and make you feel like seeing you was always a pleasure, never a chore. But her work would always keep her busy, as well as her other relationships.

Weiss sighed, running a hand through her bangs. “It’s nothing to do with that, I’m just not in the mood to go toe-to-toe with Winter over how I’m vaguely succeeding in life,” Weiss said dryly, rolling her eyes. It was obvious she didn’t want to get into this conversation, what with her whole demeanour being quite stand-offish. Blake’s phone buzzed, thankfully pulling them out of the conversation. 

**[Yang: 16:22]**

Ruby told me she snapped a lil at u yesterday and she also said sorry

**[Blake: 16:23]**

it’s fine. what’re you still doing at the garage?

**[Yang: 16:23]**

Yah I’m just tlkn 2 my dad rn

**[Blake: 16:23]**

ok, just tell me when you’re headed back to my place.

**[Yang: 16:23]**

Will do gorgeous ;) 

“So are you gonna tell me how it went or are you just gonna sit there on your phone?” Weiss said, lazily stretching her arms out as she yawned.

“Yang was absolutely fine, in fact she said that if I’m leaving Sun then I can move in with her,” Blake said, somewhat cheerily. In reality, she was extremely giddy, butterflies fluttering in her stomach, bashing around inside of her, on the verge of breaking loose. Weiss didn’t share the sentiment, raising an eyebrow at her. 

“She wasn’t even a _little_ mad?” Weiss questioned in disbelief, eyebrow somehow raising further into her hairline. Blake was slightly taken aback by the question, mouth opening and shutting as she tried to think about what to say. “No, she was fine. She’s staying at my place for the weekend,” Blake says as she straightens her back. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes- why is this so hard for you to believe?”

“Because sometimes Yang does this. She bottles it up then ends up imploding.” 

“What? Weiss, I love you, but you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Blake immediately realised her mistake, and it was that she hadn’t trust Weiss’ words. Hadn’t even considered that because she was determined that Yang was fine and if she wasn’t, she would tell her. Weiss sighed and swept some hair behind her ears. 

“I just don’t want you getting hurt... that’s all,” Weiss said quietly, finger tracing the rim of her wine glass. Blake sighed and nodded, running a hand through her bangs before they fell back into place. “I know- I’m sorry. This whole thing is just a mess...” 

“Yeah, but you know you can always call me if you need anything,” Weiss said. It was true, no matter what they would have each other for help, and that thought alone made everything a little easier. 

* * *

Returning home that night, Blake did something she hadn’t done in a long time; put on lingerie. She didn’t count the robe, that always hung there in the closet for her to wear. But she had a few sets of lingerie, lacy and unworn. Never really had anything to wear them for in the last few months. Yang was always worth something though, so she put on a lilac set she knew Yang would like. 

The blonde trudged in a short while later, shedding her dirty boots before she even got inside the door which Blake appreciated. It was one less mess that she didn’t need to clean up. There was a sleep smile on her face as she followed the smell of food into the kitchen, right to where Blake was in the kitchen, making dinner. 

She didn’t like the stereotype of she was the one who made dinner and did the cleaning; because it wasn’t entirely true. The only reason Blake would make dinner for them was because Yang’s food was either frozen or inedible, cooking was one of the few things that evaded her talents. They had joked that Yang was one of those jocks that could only do what they knew. 

On the countertop sat two plates, both with a bed of salad and roasted potatoes, a small space being left for the lamb cutlets Blake was cooking up. She had found them in the freezer, forgot that she had just bought them last time she went out for groceries. So, she decided to cook them up for dinner, as she should. 

Yang made a little ‘oo’ sound as she walked over, reaching to steal a potato from the plate, only for Blake to smack her hand. “This is bullshit, I want a divorce,” Yang whined, huffing as she moved to the other side of Blake. “Shut up, I’m almost done, you can eat it all together in a minute,” Blake said, taking a moment to lean towards Yang, placing a kiss on her cheek. 

“Alright, do you need me to do anything?” Yang asked, lingering around Blake like a lost puppy. She had to laugh at how Yang was clearly at a loss for what to do with herself at the moment. “There’s soda and bottles of water in the fridge, there’s also some ice in the freezer if you want some,” Blake said. 

Yang moved to the fridge, cracking it open and reaching for the bottle of lemonade that was in there. “Can you pour me a glass too, please,” Blake said and Yang hummed her approval. It was effortless the way they both moved around the kitchen, even if it was such a simple thing. Anything with this sort of domesticity had Blake swooning, because it was what she wanted in life. Someone to just be comfortable with and love. 

“What’s with all the ice?” Yang laughed and that comment immediately had Blake intrigued. She took a moment to glance over into the freezer and sure enough, there was a good three bags of ice sitting there. “I honestly don’t know...” Blake laughed before going back to frying the lamb cutlets. She scooped them out and onto the plate before pulling open the drawer for some cutlery. 

“Is Sun into this or something?”

“No, I really have no clue why there’s so much ice,” she laughed, taking both plates over to the table as Yang poured the lemonade into the glasses. 

This was the nice part, sitting down for dinner and unwinding. Although, she did like their moments alone, where they turned animalistic and played into whatever role they had fallen into that night. Often times Yang was predatory in nature when it came to sex, preferring to give than take. But for some reason she always gave Blake total control, always giving her the option to stop whatever she wanted. 

Yang began speaking of how her dad was shitty at spray painting so she had to go down to help and that Ruby seemed to be doing really well, and that she was proud of her. Blake happily sat there and listened to her ranting, actually taking it in, enjoying listening to her voice. It was melodic, so nice to just sit in a comfortable environment and listen to Yang. She gave her own few words here and there, about how Weiss was still having troubles of the heart and how they were coming along with her songs. 

“Where is your satchel?” Yang asked, standing to take their now empty plates over to the sink. “You usually have it nearby so you can yell at me to read something for you.” 

“It’s upstairs in my office.”

“You have an office?” Yang exclaimed, laughing in surprise. Blake laughed and facepalmed, realising she hadn’t actually shown Yang her office yet. Although, it wasn’t much, just a desk, a chair and some random things scattered everywhere. “Do you want to see?” Blake asked and Yang nodded eagerly. 

Blake took a breath, guiding Yang through the house to her office. It was honestly nothing special, like she thought, but Yang seemed amazed by it. Yang’s hand flattened over the desk, dragging along the scattered papers and observing the little trinkets that sat atop it. The blonde smirked back at her before beginning to go through the drawers, finding the most boring things. 

“There was weed in there but Sun might’ve smoked it,” Blake said, chuckling dryly. Yang whined a little, confirming that there was none. Her search continued, finally landing on the bottom drawer were a black box resided, taking up the full space. Blake bit her lip and hid behind her hand.

“You kept all this stuff...?” Yang asked, her voice disbelieving but cheery in its tone. Blake knew what was in the box, old pictures and gifts from years ago that she didn’t want to throw out. Whether it be a framed picture of them from their first year anniversary, that she still cherished and kept in the frame. Or the keychains that Yang bought her randomly that she just couldn’t get rid of. She knew they were there.

“Of course I kept them,” Blake whispered, taking a few strides closer to the desk until her hip was leaning against it. “I’m glad you did, none of my stuff got moved out of the old apartment,” Yang sighed, a little frown flashing over her face as she stared at the framed picture in her hand. It looked like she might cry. Blake was inclined to agree that losing her old stuff was disheartening. 

Clearing her throat, Yang put the picture back in the box, closing over the drawer. She walked around the desk, putting both hands flat down onto the wood as she leaned over it, a devilish smile on her face. “Have you ever had one of those ‘bend me over the desk’ fantasies?” Yang asked, twisting around until her back was against the desk and her hands grabbed either side of her.

“Sometimes,” Blake said, following Yang until she was pressed up against the front of her, noses inches away from each other. “What about you?”

“Sometimes, never actually made good on those fantasies though,” Yang parroted, eyes half lidded but not attempting to kiss her yet. Blake hummed, knowing this game of teasing, where they kept going until the other took the bait. She couldn’t say she was entirely in the mood to keep going with the back and forth.

“Let’s change that,” she whispered and the way Yang gulped before darting her tongue out to lick her lips went straight to her head. Yang’s belt jingled, the leather deliciously snapping as she pulled undid it. They kept the eye contact as Blake undid the button on her jeans, zip following suit before she began to slide them down her thighs.

Ears rang as blood began to rush through her,breath shallowing as the heated stare shared between them got to her. She heard Yang’s breath hitch when her underwear following her jeans down, Blake trailing her nails to her crotch, fingers brushing over her clit-

“Fuck, yes,” Yang whimpered, following by a low moan. Her eyes squeezed shut, hands gripping the desk tightly next to her as she rocked her hips, chasing Blake’s touch. She giggled, loving how Yang looked right now. And Blake thought, as she sank to her knees, that she liked ending her day this way. 

* * *

The next morning went by in a blur of tangled limbs, bedsheets and movies on Blake’s laptop. Lazy kisses and tentative touches that they adored, beginning to chase those fleeting moments before Yang had to leave eventually. 

That thought scared Blake; it meant she would have to talk with Sun soon. And she didn’t know if she was entirely prepared for that. 

Talking with Yang had been bad enough, but Sun was a different situation entirely. He wasn’t volatile, just... _confusing_. His moods varied drastically but he was never on the verge of violence. But he was never beyond a raised voice or yell. Weiss had stated last year that she thought he was an asshole after he didn’t offer to buy a round of drinks for them. She didn’t entirely know Weiss’ reasoning on that one so she let it slide. 

Blake was still half naked, hair disheveled and wrapped up in the bedsheets as Yang came back into the bedroom. Except she was bewildered by Yang fully dressed in her workout gear and beginning to tuck her work shoes into her duffel bag. She let her phone flop onto the bed, beckoning Yang over with her hand. 

She obeyed, crawling on to the bed, her hand resting on Blake’s thigh as she smiled at her. “And _where_ do you think you’re going?” Blake said teasingly, her hand trailing along Yang’s jaw to pull her in for a kiss. Yang hummed against her lips, grinning when their lips parted. “I said I’d go to the gym with Pyrrha, is that okay?” She asked, but her tone showed that she knew she didn’t have to. 

A hum rumbled in Blake’s throat, slipping out from under the covers so that she could flip their positions, rolling on top of Yang. “You haven’t heard?” A kiss, then another. “I’m holding you captive.” 

“Ah, but not against my will,” Yang added, cupping her jaw with one hand as they continued their impromptu make-out session. Blake was astonished at how addicted to Yang that she was, constantly craving to be close to her, to hold her, to kiss her. “You look really good in your-“

They were both startled by the door scratching over the carpet, both of their heads snapping to the doorway. Blake managed to catch a glimpse of Sun, face furious as he slammed the door shut again as best as he could. Suddenly, her heart was missing, along with her stomach and mind. Of all the things to happen right now, Blake didn’t expect to see Sun whatsoever. 

“Is that...?”

“Yes,” Blake said, rolling off of Yang and searching through the drawers for a t-shirt and some leggings to throw on. Ironically, Yang ended up going over to her own bag and tossing a t-shirt over to Blake for her to wear. Thankfully, she found a pair of her own leggings in the drawer, so she wouldn’t need to borrow them as well. “I’m sorry.”

“Do you need me to stay? I’m sure Pyrrha could wait,” Yang offered, still zipping up her bag and tossing it over her shoulder. Blake shook her head, pressing a chaste kiss to Yang’s lips before pulling back to grab her phone. “It’s fine, I’ll call you later.” 

They both went downstairs, Yang quickly heading for the door, not before she sent Blake one final loving look before leaving. A part of her knew it was for the best that Yang leave right now, but there was always that thought of wanting her to stay. Right now, Blake had to compose herself. The last few minutes had seemed to happen in the last few seconds and she really had no clue what to say to this. 

Because she had essentially been caught in the act, which didn’t make it any better than it was. 

Deciding to leave a little bit of distance between them, she leaned against the living room doorway. He would never grab her or hit her, but she supposed old habits died hard. Even without that sort of situation not being in her life for at least five years now. 

Sun stood, furious in his silence, jaw clenched and features hardened. His lips were pursed and his brow furrowed, trying to control his voice before he even spoke.

“How long?” He asked. Already suspecting this wasn’t a one time thing. 

Her throat convulsed, threatening to trap the words, but they thankfully came out. “A month...”

“I knew it...” he murmured, wiping his face with his hand. “Is this because you don’t want to marry me? Is that it?”

“It’s more than that,” she spoke, and decided that was a bold statement in the moment. Sun must have as well, as his eyes widened slightly but he didn’t seem to be surprised. “I... I don’t want to be with you anymore.” 

Sun scratched his head, walking off into the kitchen. It looked as if he was just trying to find something to do with himself, to stop himself from exploding. Blake followed him through, not really knowing what else to do in this situation. Because what could she do? 

“Alright... alright,” Sun said, placing his hands on his hips as he turned to her. “Get your stuff.”

She blinked, slightly taken aback by it. “What?”

“You heard me, get your stuff and get out,” he said calmly. Blake respected the balls on him.

Without argument, Blake walked off into their washroom. Knowing there were a few bags there to pack away her stuff, it was naturally her first choice to go to. Sun’s presence was felt behind her, watching as she looked for the canvas bags she kept inside here. She found them, expecting them to be empty. But there was a shirt inside of it.

She immediately recognised the shirt, because she had been for it for god knows how long to toss it in the washing machine. Remembered how it had been missing that first time after she came back from Yang’s and wanted to do laundry. There was a giant stain along the chest of the shirt, staining the pristine white colour. “ _What the fuck..._ ” she muttered as she held it up to her nose.

It smelled like strawberries and cream.

It all clicked into place for her then, at that exact moment. And she felt a little stupid for not seeing it before. The random food in the fridge, the stain on the chest of this shirt. How often Neptune stayed over, his food kink. His weird behaviour around Blake when she saw him a few weeks ago. It all made sense. The funny part was the only reason she clicked was because of Sun’s inability to do laundry, so he tried to hide the shirt instead.

“You slept with Neptune...” Blake stated, because it was a fact. Undoubtedly, she was right. Sun stammered, scratching the back of his head vigorously. “Yeah... but so what if I did, it doesn’t change the fact you’ve been cheating on me.”

“No, but it makes you a fucking hypocrite because you’ve been doing the _exact_ same thing,” Blake snapped, tossing the stained shirt on top of the washing machine. It could lay there for however long he liked now, she didn’t plan on cleaning it for him. Sun took a few shaky breaths, looking her dead in the eye like he head something to say.

But he turned away, walked off. “Just get your stuff and leave. I’m going out...” he said, stamping off into the hallway.

Blake breathed heavily, so many emotions mixed inside of her right now that she didn’t know what she was feeling. A potion gone wrong. She instinctively began dialling Weiss’ number, holding it up of her ear as she waited for her to answer. There were a few rings before she eventually picked up.

“Hey Blake, what’s up?”

“Can you come over?” Blake asked, holding her phone between her shoulder and ear as she began to dump stuff into the bag. “ _Please_ , I just really need you to help me pack.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Just give me twenty minutes and I’ll be there.”

“Okay... thanks Weiss.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help carry the TV out.”

Blake let out a bubbly giggle, on the edge of tears. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Why the TV?”

“You bought that shit, we’re taking it with us.”

She... actually couldn’t argue with that logic. Although she thought she should probably leave it since she cheated... what was the moral answer here? She didn’t know.

All she knew was that Weiss was determined they were taking everything that remotely belonged to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did go wild and write this whole chapter in one day. I hope everyone enjoyed it because I sure as hell did. 
> 
> Also excuse any typos or mistakes, I’m once again editing this at 3am like a psycho.


	8. If It’s Over...

Music played quietly in Weiss’ living room, filling in the silence with its happy tones. A glass of wine sat on the table, half-finished, but an entire bottle sat next to it. Ready to be poured again at a moments notice. Blake’s boxes of things were stacked in the corner, along with a TV she had no clue what to do with.

Blake didn’t know why she thought it would be easy to break up with Sun, then move on. It wasn’t. The breaking up part wasn’t hard, she just had to put her phone on silent and suddenly her life was exactly the same but one Sun less. Staying at Weiss’ all week was actually nice, because she didn’t wake up every morning to Sun asking ‘why didn’t you sleep in the bed?’ or ‘do you know where this thing is?’ and she absolutely _loved_ it.

No, the hard part was that, for some reason, she had barely spoke to Yang all week. Which wasn’t strange because they both had work, so they would just see each other on weekends because that’s when Yang had time off. Or when Blake had her days off she would stay over, which ended up with her staying for majority of the week.

This week, however, was the one week where their shifts didn’t line up at all. The weekend and Monday were when she had her time off, so she should be planning to head over to Yang’s right now seeing as it _was_ Saturday. But the fact of the matter was that she had hardly heard from Yang, and they had decided to meet up at Velvet’s party later.

She knew it was totally pathetic how she missed Yang, how she wished she could just go to bed and curl up with her. Tuck her head under Yang’s chin and fall asleep as they watched some dumb show together. Actually the shows weren’t dumb, because Yang missed all of them whilst she was in prison so they were important now.

She checked her phone again, reading over the texts she had sent but had never been opened. Maybe she was just overthinking this and everything was fine. Maybe Weiss was right and Yang was imploding because she had been startled by Sun walking in on them, that moment being enough to light the fuse and send her spiralling.

“Why’re you still sitting here?” Weiss said, strolling into the room with a brown paper bag, filled with something that smelled delicious. Blake sighed and shrugged, glancing up at Weiss with glassy eyes. Weiss sighed and reached over to the coffee table, yanking the glass and bottle of wine away before strolling off into the kitchen.

“I’m confiscating these before you end up too drunk to drive,” Weiss sang from the kitchen. Blake decided that she was probably right because she did actually have drive down to the bar, but she could always get a cab back. Hopefully she could just walk round to Yang’s apartment with her, bury herself in her chest, pepper her neck with kisses and just adore her.

“Pyrrha sends her _sincerest_ apologies for drinking your soda the other night,” Weiss chuckled as she came back into the living room and flopped onto the couch beside Blake. They both laughed, Blake’s nose scrunching up as she did so. Blake had bought orange soda, setting it in the fridge to cool whilst she went out for a couple hours to buy some groceries for the next day.

Whilst doing that, Pyrrha had came over to see Weiss and had unknowingly drank the soda. Which then sent her into a spiral of apologies when she found out that it was Blake’s. Blake had to bless her, because her kindness knew no bounds and it was very charming. Much like Yang. And there she went again thinking about Yang and wondering how she was doing, if she had eaten today and thinking about texting her asking if she was hungry because they could get food together.

“She sent me a text saying sorry, too,” Blake says, leaning on her hand as she looked over at Weiss. “When is she staying over again?”

“Uh, we were thinking of me going over to stay with her for a weekend or something when she’s not looking after her niece. Since you’re here and all.”

Blake smirked, quirking an eyebrow upwards. “Scared I’ll hear something pillow princess?”

Weiss’ face flushed and she laughed as her hand smacked off of Blake’s arm. Blake laughed in return, teasing her friend was always fun. “You’re _such_ a bitch!” Weiss exclaimed, reaching for the bag of food she had brought in before curling her legs up onto the sofa. She pulled two sandwiches out of the bag, the wrapping around them slightly greasy.

“And here I came to feed you,” Weiss said, sticking her bottom lip out as she pouted. Blake gasped and reached for the sandwich only for Weiss to move it up and out of Blake’s reach. Blake whined tried to reach for it again, her stomach growling from the smell. “ _Noooo_ , give me the comfort food, I need it.”

Weiss rolled her eyes and handed it over without much more prompting, which Blake graciously accepted. Never before did she think she would have so much satisfaction biting into a grilled cheese sandwich, but it honestly brought her much more comfort than she was willing to admit to.

“Why don’t you just let Pyrrha stay and I’ll get soundproof headphones or something,” Blake said through her mouthful of food, phone forgotten for the moment. There was a chuckle from Weiss followed by the crunching of her sandwich, she shook her head and took the moment of chewing her food to think. “No, offence, but you meddle and I don’t want you doing that.”

“ _I_ meddle?!” Blake says incredulously. “Do you remember when me and Yang first got together? When you sent us on a wild goose chase around the country?”

“I don’t know what you’re referring to?”

“When you sent me and Yang to San Jose, then we got lost in Nevada, appeared in Las Vegas then ended up back here?” Weiss cackled, almost choking on her food.

She had asked them both to go down to San Jose with her so she could meet with Winter. On their way home, Blake didn’t know how it happened, but they took a wrong turn and ended up in Nevada. Which resulted in both Yang and Blake laughing their asses off as they tried to work out where they were and how to get home. The result had been them ending up in Vegas and from there they could make it home. It was amazing.

“That wasn’t my fault, but at least now you can say you had sex on the back of a truck in the desert,” Weiss said matter-of-factly. Blake chuckled but didn’t bother to deny that, because they had done that. They also just laid down in the back of the truck, looking at the sky and talking. Like something out of the movies except those scenes from films didn’t do the real thing justice.

Weiss hummed and pointed to the TV in the corner of the room, which they had done nothing but laugh about all week. Mostly because they had no clue what to do with it, debated whether or not to sell it a few times. “I think we should get drunk and do our own remake of the ring with that,” Weiss said, both of them giggling at the prospect of a drunk Blake and Weiss duo trying to do that. It would most likely result in her TV being broken.

“I think we should start getting ready to leave soon,” Blake said and Weiss cheered, waving her sandwich in the air. Velvet’s bar, The Jackrabbit, was closed to the public for the night so all of their friends could party together. Everyone had cleared their schedules, determined that this was their night to spend together. Blake was thankful for it, she hadn’t been out for drinks in a while.

Her phone buzzed against the sofa’s fabric, making both of them look at each other in intrigue before Blake reached for it. 

**[Yang: 18:02]**

Cant wait 2 c u :) 

“Have I ever mentioned how much I _hate_ emojis and the fake emojis,” Weiss groaned as she carefully dabbed her mouth with a napkin, wiping her hands off as well before she stood up. Blake hummed, throwing herself back against the cushions with a smile on her face. “You may have mentioned it a few hundred times,” Blake said, standing up to follow Weiss upstairs. 

That one text, abbreviated to the point of being broken English, had made her day. 

* * *

Blake was sat in her car outside of The Jackrabbit, dowsing herself in a nude coloured lipgloss. As much as she wanted to go out, this was always her own personal panic that she assumed everyone else went through when they left the house alone; does she look nice? Because, before, she would have Yang or Sun to comment on how they thought she was beautiful before they left, but she didn’t have that tonight.

She supposed that Weiss counted, she had told her that she looked nice before they left. Weiss had took off before her to go pick up Pyrrha so she had only been half ready at that point. There was also the panic of her outfit; the black shirt dress with arms that flow and purple details, and her cheap black heels that somehow hadn’t broken in yet. She also didn’t know if the purple eyeshadow was too much or looked stupid-

A rap of knuckles against her car window brought her out of the daze. She glanced over to see Yang smiling nervously, one of her hands stuffed into her trouser pocket, the other idly hanging in the air. Blake smirked and switched off the ceiling light, grabbing her handbag and keys before getting out.

The blonde smiled and shut the door over for her after she got out, offering her hand as soon as Blake was done putting away her keys. They stood still for a moment, looking at each other. Sounds of cars passing by in the distance, voices coming from around the corner meaning they should probably get going. But Blake hadn’t seen her all week and wanted to admire how nicely the brown bomber jacket clung to Yang like a second skin, and how her black trousers were somehow a perfect size for her.

“Uh, y-you look really good by the way- you always do but tonight is just, y’know, _extra_ ,” Yang said, stumbling over her words. She was already drunk, Blake deduced, from the smell of her breath, to the cheeks tinged pink, even her clammy palms gave it away. So the awkwardness was just chalked up to Yang already having started her party, and she might be close to ending it if she carries on drinking.

Blake knew that Yang wasn’t just saying that to make her feel better either. It was one of the best parts about drunk Yang. As well as being a charming mess that she adored, she was also terribly sweet. “How much have you had to drink already?” Blake asked, chuckling slightly. Yang scratched her face, bringing her hand back down to her pocket a moment later. 

“Coco was drinking whiskey so I had a few of them,” Yang said, flexing her hand against Blake’s as if she was trying to see if it still fit. Blake hummed in acceptance before looking over Yang again. It was odd. There was something off that she couldn’t quite place. Some sort of nervousness that shouldn’t be but she wondered if she was just imagining things again.

“You look really good as well...” Blake whispered, squeezing Yang’s hand and beginning to guide them towards the bar, noticing how close the blonde stood to her. Her body heat exuding and keeping her warm, making her presence known.

As they turned into the room, music already playing and their friends laughing. Blake caught a glimpse of Yang’s face, her expression blank and unreadable. Even her eyes were... strange looking. She knew she wasn’t imagining things now. There was definitely something wrong. And she wanted to question it, to take them aside and ask what was wrong and if she could do anything to help.

But Velvet was already waving them over to where they were all sat at the tables in the centre of the room, Weiss chatting with Ruby and a girl with long ginger hair whilst Pyrrha was on the phone a few feet away. Blake giggled at the familiar couple of Nora and Ren, helping themselves at the bar like this was the best moment of their lives. Coco sat next to Velvet, black shirt half open and her arm draped over Velvet’s shoulder.

“I’ll get you a drink,” Yang says, squeezing Blake’s hand before letting go. “Beer?”

“Uh, yeah thanks,” Blake said, strangely taken aback by how Yang was already gone by the fine she replied. Blinking a few times in surprise, she sat down across from Weiss, turning to Velvet who was diagonal from her now. Coco’s eyes darted between Blake and Yang, before forcibly removing herself from Velvet, holding the necklace to her chest as she stood.

“Excuse me for a moment, ladies,” Coco said, taking off towards the bar. Which was where Yang was, and now there were actual alarm bells going off in her head because Blake didn’t know what was happening. Blake leaned over the table, throwing her thumb in the direction of Coco who was now standing in front of Yang, shielding her from view. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Blake whispered to Velvet, who shook her head and gestured back over towards the two girls.

“I have _no clue_ , they’ve been like this since they got here,” Velvet says before gesturing to herself. “I asked the same thing.”

Blake sighed and shook her head, sweeping some hair over her shoulder. She would let it go for now, because she was just going to end up getting upset over nothing. Which, honestly, sounded a lot like her right now. She was practically neurotic and she honestly needed another twenty drinks just to calm her down a little.

Her head swivelled over to Ruby and Weiss, who had half-turned their attention towards Blake in the last moment or two. She smiled, Ruby smiling back and they both leaned over the table to hug each other. Mindful of the drinks that they had almost spilled. She swore that Weiss had let out a small sigh of relief. Ruby pulled back, grinning as her hand landed on the ginger girls shoulder. Blake had to admit, she was very pretty.

“This is my girlfriend Penny,” Ruby said and Penny stood up. “Penny, this is Blake.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ruby talks about you a lot,” Blake said, reaching over to hug the girl as a greeting. She had suspected that this was who her girlfriend was, but it was genuinely nice to meet her so now she could put a face to the name. “It is a pleasure to meet you!” Penny exclaimed, happily hugging her back.

It was half expected, Blake thought, that Ruby’s girlfriend would be just as eccentric as her. Sure, that unconventionality had dwindled in the last few years, replaced by excitement and glee. But after a spending a few minutes listening to Ruby and Penny talk, the flowery language and matched excitement seemed fitting. It was nice to see her happy with someone.

Velvet moved to one of the empty chairs next to Blake so that Pyrrha could sit next to Weiss. It also meant that she and Blake could whisper to each other like bitchy high school kids. They had both been friends for longer than most people here, having went to the same high school in Salt Lake before Velvet moved here. Blake supposed that was how it all started, one fateful weekend when she came out here to visit Velvet ended up changing her life.

Yang and Coco reappeared from seemingly nowhere. Nora and Ren sitting down with everyone as well, about four drinks for each of them after raiding the bar. Velvet grimaced at the rapidly dwindling stock thanks to everyone coming over tonight, but her frown was immediately replaced by a smile when Coco pressed a kiss to her temple.

Everything was... _nice_. It wasn’t the wild night out she had anticipated, but something much better. Chilled out, was how she would describe it. A bunch of friends just enjoying a few drinks and catching up, the way things were supposed to be. And everyone looked happy, Blake thought. They were all grown up and moving on with their lives, no longer their old college partying selves.

Then there was Blake. Who had been stuck in the exact same position for years and was somehow going backwards with her life. Doing the same stupid bullshit over and over again. Breaking up with someone was a normal occurrence, although god forbid it happens to those who are happy in their relationship. But Blake was broken up with her fiancé, had an engagement ring and TV she didn’t know what the fuck to do with and the person who she was actually in love with was acting strange.

So, excuse her for feeling like the odd one out here tonight.

Blake glanced over towards Nora, who mouthed her name and grinned, reaching her hand out towards Blake. She chuckled and returned the gesture, both of them unable to reach ended up wiggling their fingers in the air at each other. Ren flashed a tight lipped smile at her as well, which she also returned. God, how she missed her friends. They always had their group chat but that was mostly drunken antics and people complaining.

Yang’s arm slid across the back of Blake’s chair, fingers playing with the collar off her dress and the gold necklace that she wore. Her thumb gently tickled her neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps along her skin. Blake enjoyed the feeling and let Yang entertain herself, because she seemed entranced by whatever she was doing and no one seemed to care.

There was the realisation of how the tables had turned. Years ago she and Yang were the couple out of their friends, unproblematic and in love. Now they were a mess whilst everyone else was fine and the irony of it wasn’t lost on Blake. She would make it work- they would make it work. Determined that they would because how could she let Yang get away again. It sounded dramatic and she might’ve had a drink too many.

Her head tilted towards Yang, head so close that it could almost lean back against her shoulder. “You smell like lemons or something- it’s really nice,” Blake said absently. Had no clue why she had stated that fact, she might’ve just been drunk. But it was a fact nonetheless. There was a light smack of Yang’s lips parting, a smile no doubt on her face.

“I am a lemon,” she said and Blake laughed, not knowing what that meant. 

“How are you a lemon?”

“Because I’m pretty sour, but you can make me sweet.” The wink was somehow audible in her voice, and it made Blake genuinely laugh. A few eyes flitted in their direction, catching onto the small moment between them, but there was a few glared mixed in from Coco and Ruby. Blake noticed they weren’t directed at her, which she found odd. Even Weiss gave a little flicker of her eyes between Yang and Blake.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Pyrrha sighed as she flipped her phone down on the table, hands trailing backwards to tighten her ponytail. “Jaune’s not coming, he had some work stuff come up,” Pyrrha sighed, sounding slightly disappointed by this revelation. Blake watched Weiss twitch slightly, the thought of Pyrrha and Jaune’s relationship being a sore subject for her.

They had been broken up for a while now, but there was also that small rumour amongst the group that they might get back together. That broke Weiss’ heart, because hearing that after waiting so long for Pyrrha made her miserable and Blake was inclined to agree with her friends emotions on that point. Blake could say for certain that if they did get back together Weiss wouldn’t speak to Pyrrha again, it was almost a guarantee really. She couldn’t exactly blame her if she did.

“Did I tell you guys what happened to me and Blake last week?” Weiss said, smirking across the table at her. Blake’s face flushed, immediately knowing what she was about to say. Everyone nodded for her to continue. “We ordered food for when we were going over the lyrics. So I answered the door whilst Blake was in the shower, right, and this asshole walks into the hallway and flashes the delivery guy-“

“ _It was an accident!_ ”

“Yeah, well now we’re blacklisted and can’t buy anything from that takeaway anymore.”

They laughed at the story, as did Yang. But Blake felt her hand tense on her shoulder, her fingers dancing up and down erratically. She took note of how Yang couldn’t seem to sit still, was always moving or touching her and it was strange, even for someone as touchy as Yang was. It was strange.

Weiss cleared her throat in an attempt to get Blake’s attention; she succeeded. Weiss made a subtle gesture as if she was wiping her eye, but she tapped on her eyelid twice and glanced at Yang, then back to Blake. She caught on to what she meant, she was telling Blake to look at Yang’s eyes. For some reason, she was a little nervous too.

Blake took the hint and turned towards Yang, placing a hand on her arm as she looked up at her. Surely enough, there was something whacky going on with her eyes. Her pupils had almost swallowed her irises, in a look that Blake recognised from various places. Yang raised an eyebrow at her, and it looked like her eyes hadn’t even reacted. “Are you alright?” Blake whispered, genuine concern lacing her voice. Yang hummed and nodded, smiling as she pressed a kiss to Blake’s forehead.

“Oh yeah, Blake, I meant to ask,” Nora said and that seven word sentence was one of Blake’s least favourites. Because it always meant a bomb was about to be dropped in her lap and she would have to figure out which wire to clip before it blew up on her. “Are you and Sun actually over? Because he just made up a tinder profile,” Nora laughed.

Blake sighed, taking a sip from her glass before she continued. “Yeah, it’s over. I’m staying with Weiss right now until I get my own place,” Blake said and Nora nodded, understanding that.

“Thank god, I hate that dick...” Coco murmured as she held her beer up to her lips, but the table was quiet enough for everyone to hear. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, saying, “I thought he was nice.” Blake was where this conversation was headed and she wanted to sink into the floor.

“He’s an idiot. He fucking blew all the lights in my house,” Coco stated, taking another drink from her beer. Velvet sighed and patted Coco’s arm, eyes warning her to stop talking. “No, I agree. He’s an idiot. Blake was too good for him,” Weiss said, smiling at Blake. This was her way of backing her up, Blake knew, but she didn’t exactly want to sit through a conversation filled with them dragging Sun.

Yang cleared her throat, chair scraping against the floor as she stood up. “I’m gonna go outside for a smoke,” Yang said, lightly squeezing Blake’s shoulder before she left without another word. Blake and Weiss glanced at each other, somehow each one as worried as the other about her.

“Wait,” Velvet said as she furrowed her brow, “how do you know Sun is on tinder?”

“We were trying to find someone for a three-“

Nora didn’t get the chance to even finish the word before everyone erupted into equal amounts laughter and disgust. Sputters of ‘oh my god’ and ‘I didn’t need to know’ being spat out of their mouths. Blake saw this as her chance to follow Yang out and grabbed her handbag, saying she was going outside to smoke as well. 

* * *

Yang stood outside in the oddly silent street, flicking the ash from her cigarette before taking another drag. Blake was well aware of how horrible nicotine was for you, but seeing Yang smoke was extremely hot. But appearances aside right now, she was worried about her. 

The blonde glanced back at Blake before facing the road ahead of her again, forearms braced on a street railing. Blake stepped over to her, fishing a cigarette out of her purse and lighting it, relishing that first drag as she was engulfed in smoke. The blonde tapped her free hand off of the railing, a dull clanging noise ringing out to fill in the soundless gap. 

“Did you take something? Like, drugs?” Blake asked, head tilted towards Yang. She watched her gulp, blink slowly. “What’d you take?”

“Just... just a little bit of coke.”

“ _Jesus_... what the fuck- _why_?” Blake questioned, face contorted into an angry scowl. The idea of Yang taking anything more hardcore than weed was foreign to her and she didn’t entirely like the idea of it. The blonde shrugged. “I used to take it sometimes in prison, would trade for it and it’d help me feel alright for a little bit,” she said before taking another drag, releasing it with an audible pop. “I thought that, maybe, it’d help avoid this talk.”

Blake knew what she was talking about, because she suspected that Yang had purposely been avoiding her. It didn’t hurt any less when she admitted it, though. “It’s fine if you’ve changed your mind about me, you know.” Of course it would be alright by Blake if Yang had changed her mind, but it didn’t mean that it wouldn’t crush her.

“I just feel shitty- I mean, you must’ve feel _something_ for Sun if you were engaged,” Yang said, idly gesturing to Blake with her hand. For someone who was wasted on cocaine, booze and cigarettes, she was absolutely fine. “I did... then I didn’t, call it falling out of love,” Blake stated as she swirled her cigarette between her fingers, acting as if the smoke was an incense.

“What made you realise?” Yang asked and Blake’s throat convulsed, her ribs tightening around her heart as if she was trying to hide her heart. “I saw you again, spent so much time with you and it was great,” she said happily, Yang smiling with her. Yang probably shared the same thought. They both took another drag from their cigarettes, leaving a pause where Blake hadn’t finished what she was saying just yet.

“I’m still in love with you...” Blake says, deciding that was the only thing she had left to say. “And I have been, for a long time.”

Only silence was the reply and a shuffling of fabric as Yang nodded, and didn’t stop nodding. But she never said a word back. It was safe to say Blake was mortified, because never in a million years did she think Yang wouldn’t say it back to her. Yet here they were and it was so embarrassing for her, she thought.

One final drag of her cigarette and she dropped it to the ground, stubbing it out with her heel. “Can you tell Weiss that I went home, thanks,” Blake said, already walking off to save herself the further embarrassment. Yang still never said anything, didn’t tell Blake to wait or that she just needed a little more time to think things through. Just silence.

All in all, it was mortifying.

* * *

Tears streamed as she sat in her car, makeup ruined now so that there was no way she could go back to the bar. This was stupid, she knew that. Crying over someone that wasn’t hers was unbelievably stupid but thinking Yang didn’t love her was so unbearable that it was actually painful. 

Painful as in it felt like something bad burst in her chest, leaking everywhere in her body and causing a tense ache to take over. Like someone had tore out a piece of her and ran away, tossing that piece in the ocean where no one can find it. She didn’t know it would hurt this much, or well, she did but didn’t expect to ever feel this pain. But all of this had been her own fault, a result of her own actions so she had essentially broken her own heart. 

Her phone rang and she answered it without even looking at the screen, unbothered in the moment as to who it was. 

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Sun’s voice croaked across the speaker. “Any chance you’d want to come back home? We’ll work this out-“

“Oh for fucks sake, _no_!” She yelled, thumb sliding over the end call button before he could speak again. Sun had done nothing but call all week saying the same thing and she was sick of it. Because there was someone else that she wanted, always had been and no one could replace her. 

Blake found herself looking at plane tickets, her drunken self deciding it would be a great idea to call her mom at this time of night. She really shouldn’t be, seeing as it was half eleven and her mom was likely asleep. But here she was. 

“Blake? Hunny, are you alright?”

“Yeah, hi mom, I’m fine,” Blake said, smiling at the sound of her mother’s voice. Always maternal and comforting even at her big age. “I was thinking of coming out to visit for a week or two, is that alright?”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! Will Sun be coming, too?”

“No...” Blake said, sighing to herself. “No, me and Sun aren’t together...”

“Oh, I see...” her mom spoke softly, already understanding from that vague sentence. They stayed on the phone until Blake was done booking herself on a flight to Salt Lake City, just to escape for a little while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I inconsistent with my uploads? Yes. Is this two days in a row chapter upload to compensate for if I get blackout drunk and go missing this week? It’s possible. 
> 
> Again I hope everyone enjoyed and defuse any typos, it is once again 3am.


	9. Escape From LA

Miserable, is how Blake would describe the short plane ride to Utah. As was the journey to the airport and the morning before it- actually everyday since she had last seen Yang has been awful.

She asked Velvet for a week off, praying she would say yes because the flight had already been booked for her to go to Salt Lake. Thankfully, Velvet came through, granting two weeks off instead with an all too sympathetic look on her face which made Blake feel more embarrassed than anything else.

There was no need for other people to look out for her, she was an adult, she could look after herself. So forgive her for feeling shitty when Pyrrha asks if she needs anything as she skids around Weiss’ house or even when she sees Jaune to swap their books and he asks if everything was alright. She loved them for it, of course, but she didn’t need to be babied.

Weiss drove her to the airport, talking a mile a minute and stressing about some wedding she was singing at that night. The stress was mostly related to the fact that this would be her first time singing an original song in front of an audience but Blake was sure that she was ready for it. Even if she didn’t believe so and just wanted to fall back on covering other songs.

Her suitcase bumped across the tiles, held close to her amongst the bustle of families jumping on and off of airplanes, businessmen and women talking on the phone or just rushing by in a hurry. It felt strange being back here, she hadn’t been here since early last year. Which was odd for her, usually she visited a few times a year but there had been a few reasons why she hadn’t came to visit.

One of them being that Sun was determined that they go somewhere else for their vacation, which she reluctantly agreed to. Because she thought that it might be nice but... it really wasn’t. Their vacation wasn’t fun or nice, it was just meals and wandering around nightclubs with Sun’s friends. Which was uncomfortable at best.

  
She watched a girl walk past with her boyfriend and what seemed to be his group of friends, majority of them were guys and the boyfriend seemed to be the one initiating the conversations with them.

Blake supposed that was another thing she didn’t like when she was with Sun. If they went out together, it was mostly with his friends and she ended up being an accessory beside him. She wasn’t Blake Belladonna, she was Sun’s girlfriend, because that was the easier way to identify her. Blake had to laugh at the reason they didn’t go out a lot with her friends instead; they didn’t like Sun that much. Once Weiss threatened to crack a bottle of wine over his head if he didn’t stop interrupting. _In her defence_ , she was _very_ drunk. 

Blake glanced over to the familiar head of black hair and smiled, knowing it was her mother. Kali grinned and waved, quickly walking towards her. She looked old, Blake thought, older than what she remembered. Maybe it just showed for the time that had passed, her mom was no longer the catty woman she used to be. 

“Hi mom,” she muttered as she dropped her suitcase to hug Kali. Which ended up being a lot longer than just a simple hug when her mom refused to let her go. Blake giggled, wriggling in an attempt to pull back away from her but it was to no avail. She supposed she would just have to let Kali have her moment. 

“Hunny, can I be honest with you?” Kali said as she pulled away, giving Blake a moment to reach down for her suitcase. She nodded for her mom to continue. “You don’t look well.”

Blake laughed, causing Kali to laugh with her as they began to walk towards the exit. She couldn’t deny that, she didn’t feel _good_ either. Not in a way were she thought she was going to be sick, but just _so_ exhausted. Emotionally, mentally, which affected her physically. Drained was the word for it.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here,” Blake said, sighing as she did so. “For a break.”

Kali hummed, nodding to herself as she walked ahead of Blake, guiding her to the front door. The sweet scent of the city slapped Blake across the face, washing over her and dowsing her in a sense of nostalgia that she had been feeling lately but only grew stronger now that she was here. It was always a home for her.

The car door popped open, and out came a familiar brunette with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, skin dusted with freckles and a hoodie hanging loosely over her frame. The suitcase was briefly forgotten as Blake moved towards the girl, wrapping her in a hug.

“Ilia!” She exclaimed, smiling as they embraced. “I didn’t know you were back.”

“I was gonna call and tell you but Kali insisted not to,” Ilia said as she pulled away, holding the car door open for Blake. She was about to protest and grab her suitcase to put in the trunk but Kali was already doing that. So she relented, and slid into the car seat. Grateful for being able to sink into the cushiony leather seats.

The drive was quiet for the most part, filled with Ilia talking about her escapades in Europe before eventually coming back to the US, she actually had to leave for another state that night but she just wanted to greet her. It was mostly filled with how Ilia would find herself in the strangest of situations and have to escape from them. Like how she accidentally stole a drug lords cat, that was a strange story. She ended up returning the cat in the end and explaining that she thought it was a stray; it ended well apparently.

Kali decided to chime in about what her husband was doing. Ghira was the mayor of Salt Lake City, so imagine Blake’s complete and utter surprise when she found out that he was extremely busy. Kali didn’t appreciate the sarcasm but it didn’t stop her from doing it. There was a comment to be made about how she was acting childishly but no one was in the mood to say it seeing as Blake had only returned for a week.

“What’s going on with you and Sun? Did you guys get into a fight or something?” Ilia asked as she glanced at her in the rear view mirror. There was no way Blake was about to share how Yang was out of prison and she’d been seeing her behind Sun’s back, because she wasn’t in the right headspace to be criminalised by them. So instead she said, “Yeah, something like that.” 

“What happened?”

Blake knew there was no way she could dance around this one, which was something she often tended to do with touchy subjects. She remembered one time there was a girl that was really into Yang, Blake couldn’t remember her real name but remembered her DJ name was Neon. That girl said to Blake, ‘For someone so flat footed, you sure can dance around the subject.’ She _was_ right but Blake remembered pouring a drink over her then disappearing outside.

“It was just over, there were no feelings there anymore,” Blake said, leaning back and looking out the window, watching the world pass her by. “So I’m staying with Weiss right now.” The mention of Weiss was a good way to change the subject, she knew both Ilia and her mom loved Weiss.

“How is she anyway? I heard her sister started dating Robyn Hill- that left-wing politician on the east coast.”

That somehow explained so much, like how Winter suddenly wanted Weiss to come over and visit. It wasn’t because she got promoted, it was to update her about her relationship status in person. Weiss would fall on her back when she heard this.

“Weiss is fine, she’s singing at a wedding tonight. We finally got her own songs written,” Blake said and her mom let out a happy little gasp. She could see her smiling in the rearview mirror as she drove, elated that Weiss was finally getting somewhere with her career.

Blake wondered if anyone asked Weiss about her, wondered what she would even say if someone did ask. Because, honestly, what could she say? Maybe something along the lines of: ‘Blake’s _awful_ right now, she’s broke off her engagement to get back with her ex only to discover that her ex didn’t actually love her. On the plus side, she no longer has writers block.’ That sounded appropriate enough.

It was annoying, though. Annoying how Yang didn’t want to feel anything so badly she took fucking cocaine, then continued to drink and smoke like mixing all of those things wasn’t a hazard at all. Blake was still stunned over it. Absolutely mortified that Yang hadn’t said a word back to her and embarrassed that, by extension, their friends knew that too now. The worst part is that she regretted saying that to her now. Doing it in such a fashion that it seemed like a random confession in the street.

But it was so much more. It was a sign of the beginning and an end. Because that’s what Yang was for her. She made Blake realise that she wanted to grow and be better, so she did. Thanks to her Blake grew up, her talents expanding under her random comments of praise and growing until the emptiness inside of her was filled. Now housing beautiful stories of love and lust, works of art framed on the walls. But she also represented an end. Because no matter what, even in this shitty situation, Blake was still _so_ in love with her that it hurt...

Because Yang was the love of her life and there was no getting past that.

Blake had read countless stories and heard of many people describing love like you were drowning in it, like you were falling; hence the saying falling in love. But Blake would be willing to say that it was all consuming in a different sort of way. A heat that rose until you were engulfed in the flames of that passion. But sometimes, you got burned.

So when Yang didn’t say anything back, it hurt. Like nothing had ever hurt her before. Even everything with Sun didn’t hurt as much as that, it couldn’t even hold a candle to that pain. It would never be as bad as Adam... but it was up there. Her only way of escaping that pain for the briefest of moments was returning to a familiar place filled with things she held close to her heart.

Plus, she was a little ashamed of herself now. For how she handled everything. She thought it would only be fitting for her to tell her parents what she did. 

* * *

Blake was quick to pack her stuff away when she arrived at her old house. Just as large as she remembered, but not a mansion. It must’ve been lonely, just two people living here. There were four bedrooms, which Blake considered as huge. One of them was obviously her parents room, another had been converted into an office and a guest bedroom. 

Then finally there was her own bedroom that had never changed. Her mom and dad had insisted upon leaving it the way she left it, almost as if it was a memorial. Partly, it was. Because the Blake that used to live in here, who would spend days obsessing over how and why her boyfriend had just hit her, didn’t exist now. That girl was dead.

She stood over the dressing table, old makeup and books tidied to the sides and placed carefully in the drawers. A few pictures that were stuck around the mirror, slightly dusty from how old they were. There were large gaps where she had taken some photos down, shredded them and threw them into the bin, hoping to forget.

Her hand instinctively reached out to touch a photo of her and Yang from a wedding they had attended together. She never remembered putting it up here, most likely because this photo hadn’t been taken until years after she loved to LA. Kali must’ve put it up. But she loved this photo, one of the many that were framed in a little box that she kept.

She kept it because she remembered how happy she was in that photo; and it sent a wave of joy through her just thinking about it. Blake’s uncle Tukson was getting married, and it was the first family event she was bringing Yang to. They had both been nervous, Yang more so than Blake. It ended well, even if a few people asking Yang why she wore a suit instead of a dress was a little uncomfortable, but they pushed through.

Looking at how, under these circumstances, the cheerful image of both of them laughing as they pressed their foreheads together made her heart stutter. Her brain stopped functioning because all thoughts once again were back on the blonde girl.

It was honestly ridiculous, and borderline obsessive. Yang wouldn’t be doing this right now, she was probably at work and enjoying herself. Spray painting cars and replacing tyres. There were heavy footsteps coming along the hallway, then a hand lightly smacking off of the wooden doorway. Her dad crowded the open space, making it seem much smaller than it actually was.

“Welcome back,” he said quietly, taking a few steps into the room towards Blake. She smiled and stood on her tiptoes, throwing her arms around his neck as she hugged him. Ghira chuckled, returning the gesture, his beard lightly tickling her head. “Hi dad, I thought you were working still,” Blake said, vaguely aware of her phone buzzing on the bed but she chose to ignore it for now.

“I stepped out of the office for a bit to come see you,” Ghira says, huffing out a sigh as they parted. “How long are you staying for?”

“Just this week.”

“And what happened with Sun? Do I need to speak to him?”

“Dad, _no_ ,” she laughed, arms crossed and sheepishly looking down at her feet. Her dad chuckled as well, scratching his beard as he did so. “Right, you’re not a little girl...” he trailed off, a smirk spreading across his face. “But I _could_ -“

“You don’t have to, I promise.” Her phone buzzed again, making her look back at it this time, curious of who could be calling twice in a row. It certainly wasn’t Weiss, so she couldn’t guess who it was. “I should probably answer that.”

“Right, I’ll see you downstairs,” he said before departing, trudging off through the house.

Blake dived for her phone, swiping her thumb across the answer button before pressing it to her ear.

“Hey, where are you?”

Blake blinked a few times.

“ _Yang_?” She said in disbelief, because she didn’t at all expect to hear from her. “Wait, why do you need to know where I am?”

“Well I came over to Weiss’ to see you ‘cause I figured you’d be here,” she said breathlessly, but not before continuing on. “Then no one was answering the door and I knew there was a spare key in the mailbox, so I just let myself in.”

“You broke into Weiss’ house?” Blake laughed, because it sounded stupid and it was unbelievable, yet that was how most of their antics sounded. “She’s gonna _kill you_ when she finds out.”

“I’d rather she hate me than you...”

Blake screwed her eyes shut and sighed, one arm crossed over her chest and tucked under her arm, whilst the phone was held tightly against her ear.

“Yang, what do you need me for?” She asked, deciding that getting straight to the point would be the better option here. Or else they’d just be here all night going in circles. She heard Yang sigh on the other end of the phone, shuffling around in the familiar acoustics of Weiss’ kitchen.

“I-I just wanted to apologise for the other night. I was wasted- and _I know_ I hurt you...” she sighed again, sounding slightly exasperated. “Where are you, Blake? I wanna see you.”

“I’m at my parents.”

“ _Your parents_?” Yang repeated, confusion lacing her tone and Blake had to hold back the laugh from imagining her making that stupid bewildered face she makes. “That’s like, what, ten hours from here-“

“Yang, I know what you’re thinking and please _don’t_ drive up here.”

Blake understood that Yang meant well, was trying to fix any damage she caused as she normally did so. But Yang driving up here as some big grand gesture would cause more hassle than it was worth. For a start, her parents didn’t know Yang was even out of prison, they thought she was still doing time. They also didn’t know she had had an affair with Yang, which was the cherry on top of it really.

“Right... well, _alright_.” There was the sound of a door shutting, keys jingling as they were turned. “I’m sorry for everything. I shouldn’t have took that shit- should’ve just spoken to you.”

“Yang, it’s... Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“My dad gave me the day off- so when are you back?” Blake cracked a little smile at how determined she was about seeing her. It was admirable as well. God loves a trier as they say.

“I won’t be back until next week... I’ll call you though,” Blake said, hesitant about saying the last part. Because she wanted to say that she’d be right back to speak to her, that she’d call and text whilst she was here. But the whole point was to take a break before she ended up in a worse state than she was right now.

“Yeah... yeah okay. Call me if you need anything, I’ll leave my phone on.”

“Thanks, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Anything at all by the way, if you need me I’ll pick up after one ring-“

“Yang.”

“Right, I’m rambling... _please_ call me later.”

“I will,” Blake said softly, her eyes brazenly scanning over the photos on her desk, thumb admiring the golden hair in the image as if it were really there in front of her. “Bye Yang.”

* * *

A few days passed by of Blake lounging around her parents home, eating their food and drinking whatever was on offer. She felt better after speaking to Yang when she first got here, but at least she knew that she cared now. Even if the apology was a couple days late. But when she called she sounded so worried, so cute and breathless and like she was desperate to find out where Blake was. 

So _maybe_ when she got back, they could talk about this like adults. They didn’t need to keep playing this back and forth game between them where the stokes rose every time, it was getting old, and Blake wanted to settle with her winnings. The idea that Yang might want that too made her feel so much better, because it was possible that Yang had just panicked in the moment that night outside of Velvet’s bar. She really hoped that was the case.

Blake sat in the kitchen, which was where she resided herself to in the mornings. Sitting in the comfy cushioned bench with a blanket draped around her shoulders, either with her nose in a book or actually attempting to write her own one. She was feeling inspired lately, because she had seen entire novels drafted between chiseled muscle and inside of kind eyes, and she wanted to share a little part of that.

The kitchen was serene in the morning time, a beautiful golden glow cast across the floor through the kitchen window. It was almost holy, so quiet that it might’ve been mistook for a place of worship if it hadn’t been for her mother’s taste in orange patterned furniture, mixed with different woods that varied in colour.

A soft sigh slipped past Blake’s lips, mingling with the steam from her cup of tea. The tea in her parents house was divine, partly because they had a better brand of tea but also because they had a kettle. Much easier to pour herself a cup of tea with one of those, she thought of investing now that all was said and done and she was on her own. Easier to make decisions at the moment.

Soft clicks filled the room as she typed on her laptop, pausing for a brief moment to flick through and see how much work she had done thus far. It was maybe a few chapters that would most likely need heavily edited, but she didn’t think about that in the moment. Only admired how much she had done because it was more than anything she had done in a long time. Aside from a few poems and short stories she had done here and there, her own personal collection that would most likely be deleted.

The phone buzzed against the wooden table, her eyes trailing lazily over to it. The time briefly surprised her, because she had forgotten it wasn’t even seven o’ clock yet. Her sleeping pattern had been off for a while now, what with her trying to get Yang’s back to normal. But it would only take one lie in for her to fix it so she wasn’t too bothered about it. 

**[Yang: 06:42]**

Hey

**[Yang: 06:42]**

R u awake? 

Her heart skipped a beat upon seeing Yang’s name, knew it shouldn’t have but she allowed it to keep kicking its legs against her rib cage, squealing with excitement. She smiled down at her phone. 

**[Blake: 06:42]**

yeah, i’m up. 

A few moments after the text was sent, her phone began to vibrate as Yang called her. Of course, she answered. 

“Hey- I hope I didn’t wake you,” Yang said, her voice sounding slightly groggy. Blake raised an eyebrow, glancing at the day then the time, piecing together that Yang had just woken up but wasn’t at work. 

“No, I was already awake,” Blake said, leaning forward onto her elbow. “Have you just woke up? Because you have work in twenty minutes,” she chuckled dryly. 

“I took a day off...” she said, and pitched voice up at the end as if it was cheery. But Blake didn’t take the bait when she wanted her to leave it alone. 

“Have you slept?” Blake asked, a shot in the dark but from the hoarse voice and early hour it was the rational conclusion in her mind. There was a long soft sigh on the other end. “I-It’s hard to sleep without you,” Yang said, and there was a long pause before Blake let out a tiny giggle. 

“Are you trying to guilt trip me home Xiao-Long?”

“ _No, no, of course not.._.” she stammered quietly, before letting out a chuckle herself. “I just miss you is all.” 

“Now you’re _really_ trying to guilt trip me.” They both chuckled quietly, Blake trying to be mindful that there were still people asleep in the house. She debated on what to say next, whether she should even say it at all. “I miss you, too, though.”

“Yeah?”

“ _Yeah_... I mean, who else would I tuck my feet into at night when I get cold?”

Yang laughed again, the sound so beautiful it made Blake smile, just thinking of Yang in bed all disheveled and giggly was cute. “You do do that, I don’t mind it though,” Yang said, followed by a rustle of fabric that was probably her head against the pillow. “I wouldn’t change anything about you for the world.”

Blake smiled and bit her bottom lip, trying to retain it. Her laptop had switched onto standby mode, the screen black and reflecting her image. She ran a hand through her hair, watching herself do it in the reflection, then a thought crossed her mind. “What if I cut my hair?” She asked.

“I think you’d look gorgeous, absolutely beautiful, no one could compare-“

“You’re overdoing it.”

“Yet I’m not, _at all_ , lying.”

Blake laughed and shook her head, catching sight of Ghira in the hallway with his hand trailing down the railing. “Listen, I’ve got to go. But try get some sleep- _oh_ , and you’ve got a therapy session tonight,” she said, strangely happy that she had remembered that fact. It was from weeks ago, but she had dropped Yang off once and somehow never forgot when she had her appointments.

“Right, yeah, I did actually forget about that.”

She chuckled at Yang’s forgetfulness as she watched her dad do what she called the slipper shuffle across the tiled floor, yawning as he clicked on the coffeemaker. “Alright, I’m gonna try get some sleep then. Have a good day, baby.”

Blake bit her lip and smiled at the return of the pet names, because she personally loved them even though they were common and cliche. “Text me about how your session goes,” Blake says, before they both share short goodbyes and hang up the phone. Her father eyed her sceptically as he stood with his cup of coffee.

“Who was that?” He asked, voice bordering on a growl. Blake smirked and closed her laptop over so she could have a better look at her father, saying, “None of your business.”

“Fine, I’ll just ask your mother.”

“How would she know?”

“Oh, please. Kali knows everything. Why do you think we could never throw her a surprise party?”

“I actually can’t disagree with you on that.” 

* * *

“Hold still, dear,” Kali said, voice soft and quiet as she held Blake’s hair between her fingers. The look of shock and simultaneous elation on her mother’s face when Blake asked if she could cut her hair was priceless, as she honestly hadn’t expected it. 

There were a few extra snips, Blake’s head feeling weightless now that the hair was leaving her. It was all... _so nice_. In her mind, recently, her hair resembled the past. And she didn’t want to keep looking back in fear of moving forward. Because her neck was starting to hurt and she didn’t want to be in pain anymore; she just wanted to heal.

It felt freeing now that her hair was gone, cut to just below her chin. Something about the length seemed to emphasise the waviness in her hair, an inky black ocean that swayed gently, taunting people to look at her. She felt so much lighter, like she was floating, freed of everything that came before her.

Or maybe she had just been writing too much these past few days.

“Okay... do you want to see?” Kali asked, her voice laced with pure excitement. “Of course,” Blake said, embarrassed at how excited she was herself. Her mother happily removed the towel from around her shoulders, tapping her twice as a sign that she could stand up now. Blake’s back cracked as she stood, she laughed at that, before turning to look at the mirror.

“Oh... wow...” she murmured, instinctively running a hand through her hair and loving the sensation of how it bounced under her fingertips. Every time she would move her head slightly it swung with her, which was strangely enjoyable to watch. She was slightly overcome with emotion, grinning at herself in the mirror. She caught sight of her mother sneaking across the room to grab a broom.

Blake had to admit, she liked the hair, how it perfectly framed her face. The sharp edges of her jaw seemed to return, her skin no longer seemed as pale as it once was. She realised that she was no longer that little girl anymore, wasn’t trapped in love with a man who wanted nothing more than to see her bow below her feet.

She had grown into a woman, scars faded and still healing with time. And she supposed it just took her a long time to realise that, after everything, she wasn’t broken beyond repair. In the back of her mind, she could hear Yang saying ‘I told you so’ as she laughed. Yang was partly responsible for her getting this far, actually that was an understatement. She was certainly one of the _major_ reasons why she was able to move on. Without her, those scars would still be open wounds, cracks left to lay.

But now those cracks were filled with gold, holding her together after lying in pieces for so long. She used to think those cracks were ugly, just highlighted where she was broken. Now she knew that all things broken were still beautiful, flaws and all. Beautiful things were worth saving, she believed. It just so happened that Yang thought she was beautiful, too.

Without thinking, she was grabbing her phone with a giddy smile on her face, snapping a picture in the mirror. She was dying to show Yang, just wanted to know how she felt about it after briefly eluding to cutting her hair this morning. 

**[Yang: 16:12]**

Wow

**[Yang: 16:12]**

It rlly suits u

**[Yang: 16:12]**

Ur so stunning 

“Who’s that?”

Blake jumped out of her skin after realising her mom was right behind her, glancing over her shoulder to her phone. Instinctively, her phone clicked shut and she spun around to face Kali, who had a grin plastered on her face that could rival that of a Cheshire Cat. 

She had a sneaking suspicion that her mom might have caught more than just a glance of her phone. 

* * *

They had settled down in their backyard, dressed in simple t-shirts and shorts from the heat outside. Blake knew how much her mom loved sitting out on the porch at night, breathing in the fresh air as she sipped from her glass of wine, unwinding. She also knew how much she, herself, liked sitting on the balcony of Yang’s apartment at night. 

So, here they were, sat on the deck chairs in the backyard with a bottle of wine to share between them. Two glasses filled halfway as they spoke to one another. Fireflies lit up the dark expanse, their light mingling with that of the fire pit, flames bringing about a delicious burning smell. She had forgotten how nice it was to sit down and talk with her mom, she used to think it was awkward when she was younger.

But like everything else; she grew into it. And now, she loved it.

“What did happen with you and Sun?” Kali asked, swirling the red liquid in her glass as she leaned on her arm. Blake stared into the fire, which flickered and grew wilder in tandem with her heartbeat. It was almost like a metaphor for what was going on inside of her, of what she had experienced over the past month that never failed to leave her breathless and dazed.

“Yang got out of prison,” she said, knowing that wasn’t an explanation but it would make sense to her mom. Kali hummed, voice reverberating off of her glass as she took a sip from it.

“That makes sense,” Kali says, staring off into the fire as well. “I did wonder... I saw her name flash up on your phone earlier but I didn’t know.”

“Yeah well...” Blake didn’t even know how to continue this conversation, because it was mildly awkward. There was no easy or comfortable way to admit anything that had happened over the last month. She crossed her legs, shuffling backwards and reaching for her glass, deciding that would be an adequate way to fill the silence.

“How is she? She’s not all prison like now is she?” Kali laughed dryly, leaving a soft smile on her face. Blake hummed, holding a finger up as she finished her drink. “She’s fine... she’s still stuck on her prison sleep schedule, though,” she said, chuckling.

And there it was, the raise of an eyebrow and a smirk that gave off the impression that she already knew everything. Like her dad has said, Kali did somehow know everything. Blake groaned and wiped her face, annoyed that she had been caught out so easily. Maybe she just wasn’t as subtle as she thought she was. “How did it happen?” Kali asked.

“I was at work and saw her... we _talked_...” Blake remembered it all so vividly, replaying the memory over and over because Yang’s voice was so sultry sweet and she couldn’t get enough of it. “We went back to her place, then... then we slept together.”

“And they say romance is dead,” Kali said flatly, gulping down the last of her wine.

“I’d prefer to say we were _unconventional_ ,” Blake said, cracking a smile at her mom and hoping she would do the same back. Her mom humoured her, chuckling wryly and shaking her head. She knew her mom would understand, would only support whatever she did because she was her daughter. But that was enough.

“It was definitely over with Sun for a while... then I saw Yang and it was just-“

“Fireworks? Falling in love all over again,” her mother said mockingly, words slurred as they tumbled from her mouth. Blake chuckled and shook her head, ignoring her antics. “In a way, _yes_.”

“When did you tell him?”

“I didn’t get the chance to...” Blake knew a part of her wanted to defend herself and say ‘but he did the same thing!’ but that wasn’t right. As far as she was concerned they were as bad as each other, the only difference being she upgraded to Yang whilst she had no clue what Sun was doing. He hadn’t called the last few days, which she more than welcomed.

There was clear disapproval in her mother’s expression, lips pursed and staring blankly into the expanse if their backyard. But her eyes softened, a sigh slipping past.

“I’m glad you have her back again,” Kali said, pouring herself another glass. “I missed laughing at how she worshipped the ground you walk on.”

“She does not.”

“Sweetheart... _she does_.”

Blake’s heart stuttered, but she liked the idea of it, so she laughed with her mom before settling into their cozy little night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading peeps, I’ve saw a few people who said they binge read the series and I just wanna thank them for doing so. I’m glad that people enjoy my work coz that’s what this is really all about aside from having fun writing it. 
> 
> Anywhos, my government totally fkd me for my exams today bcoz my school is in a deprived area and that’s what they based the results on... its a little classist baby. Estimated A’s got knocked down to C’s, I’m not okay. :’)


	10. Beautiful Wreck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s where the real fluff begins.

After a few long awkward talks with her mother about her relationship status... Blake decided to go home a couple days early. Mostly because she was sick of dodging questions about Yang and her therapy, she regretted even mentioning it now because the interrogation about it was brutal. She actually had to text Weiss to call her so that she could get out of the conversation.

It was nice how Weiss picked her up at the airport, also very funny because she stood with a sign that read ‘Hündin’. Yet it was also quite sad because Yang had texted about how she wanted to pick her up instead. Alas, it was too late for that. She was already in Weiss’ car on her way back home.

“I saw that Ilia was back, how is she?”

“Weiss, just because you guys hooked up once doesn’t mean you need to keep asking about her life.”

“Okay, well, lets not talk about that...” Weiss chuckled awkwardly, face flushed as she white knuckled the steering wheel.

Pulling into the driveway was an awkward affair, mostly because Blake’s car was also there and she had to squeeze up alongside it without banging them off of each other. Although she seemed quite proud about fitting them on the driveway next to each other at all, which she found hilarious.

“What happened with you whilst I was gone? I barely heard from you,” Blake says, grunting as she heaves her suitcase out of the trunk of Weiss’ car. There was no response, only a hum and sharp nails tapping off of Weiss’s phone as she typed. Blake looked at her incredulously, it felt strange to be the one getting ignored as she texted someone, because it was usually _Blake_ that did that.

“ _Weiss_ ,” she said sharply, trying to draw her attention. Weiss held a finger up to her, telling her to hold on for a moment. A sigh slipped out, followed by a soft smile as Weiss slipped her phone into her back pocket. “Sorry, Velvet wanted to know how your hair looks,” she said.

“Well...” Blake says, biting her lip as she smiled. “How does it look?”

“It looks really good actually, I thought it was more of a midlife crisis sort of thing but it’s actually really nice,” she said, both of them laughing as they walked towards the house. “Maybe I should cut my hair too- or dye it.”

“No...” Blake says, drawling out the word until she hits the stairs, bumping the suitcase up the steps. “You’re too basic for that-“

“You’ve been back for thirty seconds and you’re already a bitch!”

“What? I can’t hear you!” Blake yelled from the top of the stairs, wheels on the suitcase rolling smoothly behind her. She laughed quietly to herself as she heard Weiss spouting German insults at her from downstairs, but she was too far along the hallway to hear her clearly. She clicked her bedroom door open and felt slightly odd upon seeing the plain sight.

Maybe she was just so used to her old purple bedroom, with fairy lights lining the walls and sinking down from the ceiling, that the monotone room filled with only her essentials was quite disappointing. She missed the pictures in her room, the little vanity with art supplies, makeup and old pieces of homework spread over it. She began slowly unpacking, feeling at a loss.

Everything was packed away in different drawers, which she was actually very proud of. Organisational skills were her speciality after being college roommates with Weiss, having to clean and pack things away like she was in the army. She was convinced Weiss had some form of OCD, she was no expert but she assumed that someone who was always sparkling clean did.

Searching through the unopened drawers, Blake grabbed her workout gear, quickly changing into the leggings and sports bra. She had a split second decision to go out for a run, just to burn off some energy. Because she really had nothing else to do right now... except from check her phone which had been buzzing continuously for the last few minutes. 

**[Yang: 12:00]**  
Are u home yet?

** [Yang: 12:00]  **

Bcoz I was gonna com over 2 c u

** [Yang: 12:01]  **

Also r u hungry?

** [Yang: 12:02] **

Bcoz I could get u food

** [Yang: 12:02] **

Or we could go out for food

** [Yang: 12:07]  **

I’ll just bring it to u

Blake laughed to herself as she walked down the stairs, idly looking at her texts as she did so. The last time she had seen Yang nervously text her a few hundred times in a row was back when they first started dating. Which was honestly adorable. Because at first she had been really smooth and charming, then after about a month of dates and hanging out she admitted that she didn’t think she would get this far. 

** [Blake: 12:09]  **

are you alright over there? 

She slid her phone into the mesh pocket on her leggings, walking into the kitchen with a goofy smile on her face. Weiss rolled her eyes at her, which wasn’t unusual but it felt more affectionate than usual. Everything just felt nice today, after being away for a little while. Maybe her trip to Utah had been good for her. 

“Velvet asked if you wanted to come out with us tonight, we’re going to that club, Sugarcube,” Weiss said, casually lounging on one of the stools at the kitchen island. Or casual for her at least, what with sitting up straight and having her legs crossed being quite uptight. Blake hummed and felt her phone buzz, immediately pulling it out. “Yeah, I’ll come tonight.”

**[Yang: 12:14]**

R u at home? 

** [Blake: 12:14]  **

yeah, i’m going out for a run. 

“You never told me what you got up to this week,” Blake whined, nudging Weiss’ leg with her foot. Weiss sighed, then smiled softly at Blake, hands clasping together and hooking around her knee. “I was working a bunch then I went on a date with Pyrrha,” she says. 

“How was it?”

“It was good, she does that thing that Yang does, you know what I’m talking about.”

“The nervous rambling?”

“Yeah, that. Does that go away?”

“ _Nope_ , so enjoy it,” Blake giggled, patting Weiss’ leg sympathetically. She personally thought the nervous rambling was quite cute, if not a little annoying when it went on for too long. But it was bearable. “I’m going out for a run, by the way.” 

“Enjoy.”

“You couldn’t have said that anymore dryly.”

* * *

Her run was nice, so far, although it was around ninety-degrees outside so she was sweating a lot, which wasn’t _at all_ nice. 

There was something... _different_. She felt more free. Maybe it was the absence of her hair, chopped short and currently pulled back into a tiny ponytail on the back of her neck. But there was an absence of pressure, she thought as she squinted her eyes at the sky where a kite flew above her head. The sky was no longer a dome, keeping her in, trapped under its influence.

She had gotten a lot of writing done this week, that might be what was making her feel good about herself. Because she did feel good about herself right now, because as shitty as her life has been lately, everything was starting to click into place. A few pieces of the puzzle finally being solved. But she realised nothing major had happened, really. She had just taken a break, and somehow slowing down seemed to speed up everything else.

Her heart stopped for a moment when she heard footsteps hurrying behind her-

“Great day for a run, huh?” Yang’s voice boomed from behind her, and she found herself laughing. She shook her head, slowing down slightly and looking back at Yang.

“I don’t know if jeans and a flannel are proper workout etiquette,” Blake said, laughing again when she saw Yang was out of breath yet still jogging alongside her.

“Oh _sure they are!”_

“Even in this type of weather?”

“Yup,” she huffs out, throwing her head back and groaning as she tried to keep up with Blake. “It chafes a little but you work through the pain.” 

Blake sharply turned into the park, leaving Yang staggering after her but she still caught up. Which was remarkable with how exhausted she seemed. “I’m not sure you can keep up with me,” she said, slowing down again to smirk at Yang. The blonde nodded her head a few times, wiping her beet red face with one hand.

“Sure I can, I’m just not wearing the right set of... _lungs_ ,” she said breathily, finally stopping to lean against a tree off to the side of the path.

Blake giggled and followed her over, an out of stamina Xiao Long was quite a sight to see. Especially because of how rare it was. She shrugged off her flannel, wiping her face with it. Her cheeks were lit up red, hair dishevelled further than usual, even though there had been an attempt to tame it within her ponytail. Her hand pressed against Yang’s chest, leaning forward to give her a chaste kiss.

“I don’t normally kiss my stalkers, but I’ll make an exception since-“

“Since I’m unbelievably attractive?”

“I was gonna say since _I feel bad_ for you, but sure, whatever makes you feel better,” she said, both of them laughing at each other. It wasn’t as awkward as she thought it would be, if anything it was nice. Yang leaned down to kiss her again, which she accepted, reciprocating and loving it.

“So why are you stalking me?” Blake asked, gently pushing Yang away so they could face each other. Yang shrugged, looking down at her hands which were currently loosely hanging around Blake’s waist. “Because I wanted to apologise in person... maybe take you on a little apology dinner,” she said, smiling as she swayed from side to side.

“And that requires you to come and see me instead of just calling?” Blake said, flicking an eyebrow upwards.

“No, I just wanted to see you. By the way, you’re a super hard person to track down.”

“How?”

“You’re always going somewhere!” Yang exclaimed, causing Blake to chuckle and awkwardly scratch her cheek. “Seriously, last week you were in Utah, then today you’re out a run when I thought you were at Weiss’ place.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t turn up to my parents place, you usually don’t listen to me.”

“Oh, I was gonna, but Ruby took the keys to my truck,” she laughed. Blake shook her head and drummed her fingers along Yang’s collar, idly looking around the park, watching couples and kids passing by, families with picnic baskets and random people out for the exercise. “Wait, so how’d you get here?” Blake asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“I got a cab,” she said, awkwardly half-smiling. “I saw you jog past so I jumped out of the car- never jumped out of a moving vehicle before, shit was _wild_.”

“ _No_ you didn’t...”

“I did, but don’t avoid my question Belladonna,” she said, laughing as Blake awkwardly turned her head away from her. Blake held a tiny smirk, trying to avoid eye contact with Yang because she was beginning to feel like a magpie, wanting to look at that gleam in her eyes all the time. 

“So, me, you, dinner?” 

“I can’t,” she says, her smirk now turning into a challenge for Yang. “I said I’d go out with Weiss and Velvet later.” 

Yang hummed, nodding and tightening her grip on her waist, fingernails gently scraping against her skin. “And how does that prevent us from getting food together?” Yang asked with a playful lilt to her voice, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Blake. She shrugged then began to inspect a scrape on Yang’s jaw. 

“Because I’m going home to finish a few pieces of writing from when I was gone.” Yang perked up that, Blake knew she had always been strangely interested in her work. “And then I’m going to get ready for tonight.” 

“Just skipping food entirely?”

“No, I’m having dinner with Weiss, as I do live in her house.”

Yang groaned loudly, throwing her head back against the tree as she did so. Blake had to laugh at her attitude towards Blake doing anything without her, she found it to be quite endearing. Even if it did come off as clingy in a sense. “Who else is going tonight?” Yang asked, recovering with a sigh. 

Blake took a step back, shoes softly scraping off of the ground and Yang following her every move, eager to keep up with her. The sun beat down on them harder, now out of the safety of the trees shade, leaves no longer hiding them. They were in the open, with Yang’s hand still around her waist and Blake wanting it there, happy to let people know. Because maybe to move on, they needed that. 

“Velvet and Coco are going, probably a bunch of us actually,” Blake says as she runs a hand through her bangs, frizzy and mussed from the heat. “Cool, I’ll go with Coco and I’ll see you tonight then,” the blonde said, grinning down at her. Her teeth shone so bright they could parallel the sun, as did her hair, or maybe Yang was just the sun and she could never see that because how could anyone look at the sun without being blinded by it. 

The more Blake thought about it, she would say Yang was inherently associated with the sun. Sunflowers, the colour yellow, the sun itself. Always so gorgeous and vibrant whilst never being overwhelming. She shined so brightly that it blinded Blake of everything else, which she was fine with, because she was happy to soak in those rays. 

“Okay, but we’re going to Sugarcube and you hate it there.”

“And so do you, I’m just coming to make sure you survive.”

“That’s why you’re coming?”

“No, it’s because I want to spend every minute of the day with you-“

“Reel it back a bit.”

“Can’t. I’m not a liar.-“

They continued on with their back and forth banter, exchanging less than a sentence and that somehow being enough to send them into a fit of laughter as they tried to walk together. It wasn’t much, in fact it was barely anything at all. But it was more than enough for them.

* * *

“I’m done, I’m not going!”

“Weiss, for _fuck sake!_ ” Blake yelled from downstairs. 

She was about to lose it entirely, which was something she rarely said about her and Weiss’ fights. But tonight she was especially annoying when getting dressed because she had changed outfits more times than Blake could count and was currently having a fight with her makeup bag. 

The most annoying part was that she went on and on about wanting to look nice for Pyrrha, which Blake wasn’t entirely against but she also had to listen her for an hour and a half. So, yeah, it got a little annoying after a while. 

Blake was leaning over the kitchen island, idly munching on some of the fruit platter that Weiss had cut up. She did that when she was stressed, created fruit platters and devoured them, making sure to cut up each and every fruit, excluding the berries and grapes. So Blake was chewing on a mango cube, checking how she looked herself in the camera of her phone.

A simple black dress clung to her skin, form fitting and showing off every curve, the straps crossing her chest to meet at the nape of her neck. She dug through her still packed bags from moving out with Sun, searching for a specific pair of heels that her mom had bought for her years ago. Because they were expensive and gorgeous, with a little leather strap that went around her ankle... and Yang may also have a thing for heels.

She liked what she liked, Blake never judged her for it. It was the same way as Sun had a thing for women who took charge.

Blake didn’t just do things to play into other people’s weird kinks though, no, because that would be quite strange if she did. Only occasionally did she do indulge someone because she thought that giving someone what they want, constantly, insane. But for some weird fucking reason, the universe decided to flip itself upside down whenever Yang came into the equation.

Her phone buzzed against the countertop, Yang’s name flashing on the screen; she answered.

“Hey baby, are you and Weiss ready?” Yang cooed over the phone and Blake had a hard time not smiling. “Not yet, because she’s being a stubborn asshole!” She yelled, and in response she heard something being thrown and thudding off of the ceiling above her.

“ _Ficken hölle!_ I’ll be there in a second!”

“Du bist ein verdammter schmerz im arsch!” (You’re a fucking pain in the ass!)

“I appreciate how smart and bilingual you are, babe, but I have no clue what you’re saying,” Yang laughed awkwardly, sounding rather sheepish about the admittance. Blake nodded, even though Yang couldn’t see her, before glaring at Weiss who had just arrived at the bottom of the stairs.

“Right, sorry. We’re ready to leave now, so we’ll meet you there,” Blake said, watching as Weiss walked towards her, heels clicking off of the floor. They were both locked in an intense death stare, a battle between two friends who wanted to kill each other.

Weiss swirled a finger around her face, pointing to flawless eyeliner and lipgloss. “If I, at all, look like _dog shit_. I’m gonna kill _you_ _and_ Yang.”

“Oh, shut up. You look gorgeous,” Blake tutted, waving a hand at her as she turned back to plucking grapes off of the plate. She heard Yang choke on the other end of the phone, a few coughs sputtering out. “Why’s she gonna kill me?! What’d I do?!”

“She counts us both as the same person now.”

“So I’m just destined for Weiss to kill me?”

Blake laughed, as did Weiss, but neither of them made an attempt to deny that claim. 

* * *

Clubbing was, without a doubt, not Blake’s favourite thing to do.

Because her hearing was sensitive and the club was loud, then sometimes her eyes got overwhelmed by the lights. Plus there were so many people around her that she didn’t know, which made her feel a little uncomfortable. Then there was always a smell that made her gag, plus the toilets were just filled with women taking lines of coke off of the fucking sink. 

Maybe she was just socially awkward, maybe a little socially inept, because she didn’t like these sort of things. The only reason she agreed to come tonight was because she knew Weiss would want her as backup until she was drunk enough to off on her own with everyone. Despite them all being a fairly close knit group of friends, everyone tended to pair off. Velvet and Weiss usually tried to pair off with Blake, other times Weiss would stick to Ruby, then there was Yang, Pyrrha and Nora who were as thick as thieves from frequenting the same gym. 

But as they all grew older, realising they were getting closer and closer to their thirties, there was another weird phenomenon. Blake herself had personally experienced it many times and had spoken with Weiss about it. She found that hanging out with her couple friends, by herself, was _fucking weird_. For example, she had been out with Nora and Ren once and they told her about them both trying for a baby. Which was awkward to say the least. 

Then she found herself, recently, actively trying not to be around Weiss and Pyrrha when the three of them weren’t in a group setting. She avoided them like the plague, because she now acknowledged how weird it felt to be wrapped up in your friends love life. Honestly, she felt bad for Weiss having to put up with her troubles for months. 

She was drawn out of her thoughts as Jaune sidled up next to her at the bar, the bright and colourful lights reflecting off of his blonde hair. He had one arm resting on the bar, hands clasped together as he casually leaned to the side. Nora had forced him to wear a button-down shirt with his jeans, a pair of sneakers that barely looked like sneakers had been whipped out of thin air for him. The bouncer spent a long time staring at his shoes.

“How’s things with Yang?” He said, his voice barely audible over the music. But Blake heard him, even if his voice was soft and muffled. “Things are fine- or, well, they _will_ be fine, it’s just gonna take some time I think,” Blake said, Jaune nodding along to show that he was listening to her. He shrugged and turned his head to look out over the sea of people dancing, their friends included.

“It’ll be alright, it’s Yang-“

“I wish everyone would stop replying to everything I say with ‘it’s Yang’ like yes, I know that,” Blake grumbled, downing the last of her wine. She was delightfully tipsy, everything just seeming better to her now. And the drinks were always so sweet in bars and nightclubs, tasting so much better than they would if she had been drinking at home with her friends.

“Ah, so you’re at that stage of drunk where you’re confrontational. Noted.”

“Shut up,” she giggled, lightly smacking his arm.

“Speaking of confrontation, have you saw who’s here?” He asked, head lolling to the side a little. Blake raised an eyebrow, yet he only grinned slightly and pointed towards the dance floor. “You remember Neon, right?”

“Fuck off,” Blake spat out, head whipping around and sending her spinning from how fast she had done it. She wasn’t drunk enough to go toe-to-toe with Neon, a random girl she met _once_ years ago who seemed really keen on sleeping with Yang. In fact, she was sure they did once but that was before Blake was in the picture so she wasn’t too bothered by that fact.

“Do you want a drink?” Jaune asked, already waving the bartender over. He was quite the gentleman sometimes. Blake sighed and ran a hand through her bangs, fingertips fluffing up her newly shortened hair. “Yeah, three tequila shots, _please_.”

Jaune was slightly taken aback, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. But he didn’t protest, just spoke to the bartender who slid the shots across the bar a few moments later. Then he could only stare in awe as she downed all three shots and stared back at the crowd. She wasn’t much of a dancer, Yang was though, so was Neon. And she didn’t really need Neon, the most random of people, back in the mix when she’s already going through a rough patch as it is.

The shots were just taken as liquid courage, she was on a mission now.

Her eyes were stuck on her friends, mostly scattered across the room. She had no clue where Pyrrha and Weiss got off to, but she assumed they were somewhere in the direction where Nora was laughing. Yang and Coco were stuck somewhere in the middle, she could tell they were teasing each other what with them laughing like a pair of idiots.

Neon was next to them, dancing with Velvet and laughing at Yang. And for some reason, Blake was really annoyed by it. Because Neon was clearly on a completely different wave length right now, what with her pupils blown to the size of planets and how hyper verbal she seemed from a distance. Blake always assumed Neon was going to be some coke-head Ibiza DJ, but apparently she was still here.

“Since when are you the jealous type?” Jaune asked, laughing slightly as he watched her. She rolled her eyes and turned to face him, surprised by another drink in his hand being held out for her. She accepted with a smile and downed half of it in a few gulps. “You might wanna go easier on that-“

“It’s fine, will you be alright here if I go dance?”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna... _chill_.”

Blake barely heard him, she was already gone and weaving her way through the crowd, dodging hands that reached out to grab her as she clumsily spun through everyone. It was... extremely pathetic that she was acting this way. She considered it to be, because spinning through a sweaty crowd of people and trying to avoid being grabbed by some douche, just because she was jealous, sounded a little insane.

She swayed slightly, her footing coming away from her but luckily her back bumped into someone. There was a familiar laugh and the smell of lemon & honey, followed by two hand wrapping around her to keep her upright.

“Hey, I was just about to come find you,” Yang said, her voice was only audible over the booming music around them because her head rested on Blake’s shoulder. Blake smiled, the idea of Yang ditching Neon to come find her was more than appealing, and she was too drunk to be ashamed by the smile it caused to break out on her face. She shouldn’t have taken the shots.

“Yeah, well I thought I’d come find you first,” Blake said, her head twisting until her nose rubbed against Yang’s cheek. Her eyes closed, because she knew she was fine right now. Even if she fell to the floor Yang would pick her up. Yang hummed, which was more of a low rumble in her throat. She brought her hand up to card through Blake’s hair, fingers gliding down her arm, to her waist.

“The short hair really suits you by the way,” she said, the compliment going straight to her head. Blake let out a tiny yelp when Yang began to roll her hips, encouraging Blake to follow her movements. She hadn’t expected it but she didn’t complain either. She heard Coco ‘whooping’ at them, causing her to flutter one eye open only to see Neon glaring at them. Never breaking eye contact with her, she dropped a kiss on the edge of Yang’s lips.

“By the way, Weiss left with Pyrrha a little while ago, think she’s staying at Pyrrha’s place,” Yang said into her ear, returning the kisses that Blake had given her. They were both jostled by someone in the crowd next to them, bumping into Coco who immediately grabbed Velvet closer to her. Neon, who Velvet had been dancing with, sprinted off towards the bathroom.

Blake brought her hand up to grip the back of Yang’s neck, using it as leverage to spin herself around to face her. Yang grinned and settled both hands on Blake’s waist, looking down between them at Blake’s feet as she stumbled slightly. “Did you see Neon?” Blake said, her words slurred.

The blonde bit her tongue, giggling as she leaned her head down against Blake’s head. “Were you jealous?” She asked and Blake rolled her eyes in response. “No,” she stated, before realising that when she was drunk, she was a horrible liar and Yang knew her tells. She averted her gaze slightly, “Okay, _maybe_ a little.”

“You don’t have to be,” she cooed, leaning down to slot their lips together, kissing Blake slowly. “You know I’ve only ever had eyes for you.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Do your sweet talk bullshit.” They both laughed, because Blake held no malice behind her words. Yang knew what she meant. That this wasn’t what she wanted to hear, she just needed to hear those three little words that made the world go round. A simple three syllable sentence that came out in more complicated ways than you can imagine.

“Can I stay with you tonight? I don’t have my keys with me.”

“Mi casa es su casa.”

Blake giggled and wobbled on her feet again, falling further forward into Yang, who laughed and easily held her upright. There was a moment where Blake’s heart stopped, because bright blue hair stood out in the crowd, a familiar cocky smile. It was Neptune, less then twenty feet away from her as she stood in Yang’s arms. Seeing him... well, honestly, the only thing she could think about was that Sun’s dick had been up his ass and the amount of space his fetish took up in her fridge.

“You’re super drunk, huh?” Yang chuckled, and Blake suddenly felt very ill.

“Yeah... yeah I actually feel like I’m gonna be sick,” Blake said and Yang immediately kicked into her caring mode, grip tightening around her waist as she pulled her face back to observe Blake. Everything about her straightened upright, coming to attention now that she thought her services were required.

“Do you wanna leave or go to the bathroom?”

“I don’t want to make you leave-“

“It’s fine, we can go,” Yang said, pulling her close as she already began guiding them through the crowd. It was moments like this, where she was drunk and fumbling around, the world spinning around her, that she wondered how she had ever survived without Yang. 

* * *

As soon as the fresh air hit her, it was all over. Immediately reduced to a drunken mess, ready to vomit on the next available sidewalk. If Yang hadn’t already been holding her as they left she would surely have fallen face first into the concrete below. 

Fortunately, Yang had been there and had carried her into a cab, then carried her again from the cab all the way up to her apartment on the top floor of her building. Blake realised, somehow through her haze, that Yang was barely tipsy. In fact, she remembered that the blonde had only had a few jack and cokes. 

Yang kicked the door shut, straining to hold Blake tightly with one arm whilst she locked the door. The raven haired girl giggled at her expense, playfully nibbling at Yang’s jaw to try and distract her. “Such a little gremlin when you’re like this,” Yang grumbled as she carried Blake through to the bedroom, gently setting her down on the bed. 

Blake tugged on the collar of Yang’s denim jacket, giggling as she tried to pull her down onto the bed as well. Yang shook her head gently removed Blake’s hands from her before taking a few steps back, searching through her closet for something for Blake to wear to bed. 

She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling as Yang carefully placed a pair of boxers and one of her t-shirts down on the bed. The small moment was interrupted by Blake bolting upright, feeling something hot creeping up the back of her throat. Forgetting she was wearing heels, she stumbled across the carpet for a comedically long time until Yang helped guide her into the bathroom, sweeping her hair away from her face as she vomited into the toilet bowl. 

“What’d you eat earlier?” Yang asked as she gently rubbed Blake’s back. “Grilled cheese and Weiss’ _fucking_ fruit platter.” 

Immediately, Yang burst out laughing, which mixed with the sound of Blake’s vomiting was so unique in a way that was familiar. Like they were back at college coming back to the dorms, still drunk from the night before and supporting each other with their bouts of sickness. 

They sat there on the floor for what felt like... Blake didn’t even know. It was either seconds or years, she couldn’t tell, time was only a concept to her right now. Because her head was fuzzy and filled with stars; a supernova had gone off, and she was in the blast range. Completely blown away; she was long gone now. 

Her vomiting had subsided, her stomach felt empty yet there was still this icky feeling left in her mouth. Yang was still holding her hair back, swiping her hand through it and gently massaging her scalp whilst her other hand ran up and down her back. It was so soothing and sweet and loving... her heart ached a little. 

“Are you good now?” Yang asked, planting her foot on the ground as she braced herself to stand. “Yeah, I’m good...” Blake mumbled. Taking the hint, Yang stood up, a few different things clattering around the bathroom as Yang moved around. Blake had no clue what she was doing, because she had moved from the bathroom, through to the living room, then back again. 

“I put a bucket next to the bed for you, y’know, just in case,” Yang said, pulling Blake’s up and off of the ground. She groaned slightly as she propped Blake up on the toilet seat, then reached for a toothbrush already prepared with toothpaste on top. “Are you really about to brush my teeth?” Blake giggled. 

“Yes, because you’ll get all whiny about being unclean,” Yang said, giggling as well. “Come on, open your mouth.”

She shook her head, reluctantly opening her mouth. Having Yang brush her teeth was, undoubtedly, the strangest thing they had ever done together. But luckily it didn’t last long and this was just Yang’s way of caring for her. She leaned over and spat into the sink then cringed as Yang dragged a facial wipe over her mouth. 

“What an asshole, you could’ve warned me.”

“Be happy I’m taking your makeup off, I could just leave you.”

“Fine, I permit you to do this,” Blake said pompously, closing her eyes as she let Yang begin wiping at her face. This, they had done before. Many times actually. Even when they were sober and Blake couldn’t be bothered to take her makeup off, she let Yang do it. Occasionally when Yang wore makeup, Blake absolutely swooned but always cleaned her face for her. 

“Yang?” Blake said softly, her name hanging in the air now. Yang let it dangle for a moment as she discarded of the dirty wipes, satisfied that she had completely cleaned up Blake’s face. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, you can ask me anything...”

“Why is it you can do all of these super nice and sweet things for me,” Blake says, the words slurred from her inebriation, “but you can’t tell me that you love me.”

“Is... I was gonna wait, make it this big nice thing for you... but is that what you want? F-for me to say that right now?”

“I just want to know that you love me...” 

Yang gently took Blake’s hands into her own, rubbing circles into her palms. She was knelt on the floor below Blake, looking up at her like a sad puppy. Sometimes she thought Yang was like a puppy, always so happy and excited, begging for affection and willing to reciprocate in a heartbeat. 

“I-I do l-l-love you Blake, and it’s scary because you are _the one_ for me,” she was cut off by Blake giggling, because it sounded cheesy and it went straight to her heart. “You know what I mean though! I’d do anything for you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, ‘oh, really’.” She grinned, Blake smiling back at the sarcasm.

“What if I was like... pregnant with Sun’s kid or something.”

“Then I’d still love you and that baby,” Yang said, confident in her answer. “Out of curiosity though... are you?”

“No, it was just the first thing I could think of saying,” she said, Yang nodding along as she listened to her. For as drunk as she was, she was still overly giddy about this admittance, because it was what she had wanted for weeks. It wasn’t that she didn’t know Yang cared about her, she did, she just wanted to hear her say it. So now she could play it on loop in her dreams.

“Want to go to bed?” Yang asked, rubbing her thumbs along her knuckles. Blake nodded, eyelids feeling heavy and stomach still churning from earlier. “ _Okay_ ,” Yang mouthed, placing a kiss on Blake’s knuckles before she helped Blake to her feet.

They got changed rather quickly, Yang mostly helping Blake into what she was wearing to bed before shedding her own clothes. She waited patiently for Yang to crawl under the covers with her, deciding that it was the only appropriate way she could sleep tonight. Plus Yang was running around, folding her clothes and fetching her a drink so she thought it would only be polite.

Yang eventually joined her in bed, curtains pulled shut to protect them from the light. Blake instinctively curled into her chest, arms flung over her waist as she did so. Yang got the message that she wanted to be held tight, so she complied by wrapping her arms around Blake, holding her close. It wasn’t much, in fact it was barely anything at all. But it was more than enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading the chapter peeps, hope y’all enjoyed. Sorry I went missing for like a whole week exam results kicked me in the ass so me and my girlfriend were like fk it let’s get drunk.


	11. Out In The Open

Waking up after drinking heavily the night before was an absolute nightmare. Blake was immediately hit with a wave of nausea, her throat dryer than the Nevada desert and feeling so unbelievably warm under the covers. She was thankful for the curtains being closed and the glass of water at her bedside, but she had briefly forgotten where she was.

Glancing over to her right, her arm reaching out to press down on the disheveled covers and feeling them still warm. Pausing for a moment, she decided to take a drink. Her phone was on the bedside table, blown up with text messages and calls from Weiss. A voice from the living room, speaking calmly and quietly told her that it was Yang. Already wide awake at...

She tapped on her phone, and grimaced at the reveal of it being nine in the morning.

Somehow, after taking a few moments to stop and close her eyes to stop the world from spinning, she ended up tuning into Yang’s conversation. Which had switched from calm and quiet on the phone to one person, then to a tone that slowly grew aggressive on the phone to another. Blake felt bad, honestly, because Yang didn’t actually get aggressive all that often.

“She’s asleep right now- no, I’m not coming over... What do you mean _why_? Because I wanna spend the day with my girlfriend and...” she heard Yang sigh heavily, the floorboards groaning beneath her as she paced back and forth. “Dad, giving me more of Raven’s money isn’t gonna get me to come over...”

Blake had never, in years of knowing Yang, heard her speak to her dad like that. Clearly a lot had happened since she was last fully in the mix with the Xiao Long-Rose-Branwen clan. But in that time, Yang had apparently distance herself from all of her family except Ruby, the only exception being that she sees them at work. Knowing Yang, she probably didn’t count that as ‘seeing’ them at all.

Another loud sigh followed by the sound of her phone being tossed onto the sofa, softly thumping off of the fabric. Blake paused, fixing her hearing onto whatever Yang was doing to take her mind off of her hangover. “Yang? Are you alright in there?” She called out.

“Yeah, yeah I was just on the phone and didn’t want to wake you. I’ll just be a second,” Yang said, barely having to raise her voice for Blake to hear her. The apartment was small, but Blake found it very homey. Something about it was just very cozy, especially in the mornings. Shuffles of feet across the ground, then the sound of the toaster popping. Blake chuckled and half expected the fire alarm to go off.

She lay back against the pillows, taking another few sips from her water as she listened to Yang cursing to herself in the kitchen. Blake grinned at the blonde as she walked in, she held two mugs in her hands and a plate between her bicep and forearm. Deciding to help, Blake took the plate from her and one of the mugs before she spilled everything.

“You didn’t have to make me breakfast,” Blake said, waiting for Yang to pull herself back under the covers before she sat the plate of toast down between them. Yang shrugged and grunted as she propped herself up on the pillows, reaching for her mug. “Yeah, but I wanted to. I mean, when was the last time _I_ made _you_ food?”

“A few weeks ago when you decided to make pizza- that was actually really good, by the way. We should do that again.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Blake giggled, before playfully nudging Yang’s arm. “I never thought I’d say you cooked something that was _actually_ edible.”

Yang chuckled, skin crinkling around her eyes. She traced her finger around the rim of her mug, foot twitching under the covers as she spoke. Tentatively, she picked up a piece of toast, crunching into it and being pleasantly surprised that it had the perfect amount of butter on it. Maybe Yang had just improved her cooking skills.

A hum, followed by a snap of fingers and Yang was sitting up, setting her tea off to one side. “I got you something,” The blonde said, a happy smile on her face as she hopped from one foot to the other, making her way over to the closet. “You did?” Blake asked, smiling and quirking an eyebrow upwards, watching Yang reach into the bottom of the closet to life up a box.

“Okay, close your eyes,” Yang sang. Reluctantly, Blake closed her eyes for her. “Alright, they’re closed,” Blake giggled.

Fingers tapped off of cardboard, creating a hollow beat as Yang walked towards her with a box on her hands. It was strange, to be sat with her eyes closed and unable to know what’s going on. Something landed in her lap, heavy, yet not _too_ heavy to be something insane. “Okay, you can open your eyes now,” Yang said. 

Blake’s eyes fluttered open, and she let out a giddy little laugh at the box in her lap. 

“You got me a kettle?”

“Well, _yeah_. You said you still didn’t have one- plus, I know how much you love using one of these things.” Yang fell back on the bed, leaning on her elbow. She smiled, biting her tongue between her teeth as she tried to gauge Blake’s reaction. Meanwhile Blake twisted the box in her hand, admiring everything about the item. 

She admired its thoughtfulness, adored how Yang had taken the time to buy her this simple object that meant so much to her. Because they used to have one, in Yang’s old apartment. Blake would come over every weekend and make tea for them both, then they would lounge around together because that was their life. And they were happy that way. 

Now, finally, after so much time apart where so much had happened. Things seemed to be going back to the way they used to. 

“I love it,” Blake says, placing the box to the side and leaning over towards Yang. She ignored the nausea, pushing through so she could quickly place a kiss on Yang’s lips before pulling back. “Why didn’t you just use it to make tea with?”

“Because I didn’t know if you wanted to leave it here or if you wanted to take it back to Weiss’ place.” A hum against Yang’s lips let her know that Blake approved of that decision. She could be rather particular about those things so she didn’t blame Yang. Her hand came up to cup Blake’s jaw, teeth grazing against her bottom lip. She slid forward onto her knees, helping Blake lay back down against the pillows. 

“Who were you on the phone with?”

“You’re gonna ask me that when you could be kissing me instead?”

“It sounded intense,” Blake murmured, hands sliding through Yang’s hair to the back of her neck, holding her close. It also meant that she couldn’t escape the conversation, as she tended to do. “Was it your dad?” She asked, watching as Yang’s face dropped, mask cracking. She turned from the loving girlfriend to the broken child in a matter of moments. 

The blonde sighed and rolled off of her, placing the plate next to the bed before lying on her back, pressing her palms into her eyes. “I’m not talking to him,” she answered, in that tone that was warning Blake not to take another step, not to push this. But, sometimes, Blake wanted to make it a point that repressing everything wasn’t the way out. 

“I’m asking what he was saying on the phone with you,” Blake says, rolling onto her side to face Yang, a hand sliding along her stomach. “Come on, tell me what’s up.”

“Nothing, he just keeps calling, wants me to come over for dinner so we can talk. That’s it.” Another sigh, her arms now sliding back under her head, legs crossing as she looked over at Blake. Blake laughed, shaking her head as she looked down at Yang. Because all of her features were hardened, all of the edges were sharpened, and there was no way that what she had said was all that had happened.

“You’re so full of shit- I mean _look at you_!” Blake laughed, soothingly running her hand up and down Yang’s stomach. “You’re _so_ angry.”

Yang screwed her eyes shut, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. “He’s just an asshole and I want to spend time with you right now,” Yang growled, hand coming around to lay over Blake’s, the warmth from her palm was burning, as any warmth from her often was. The raven haired girl raised both of her eyebrows, eyes begging for Yang to keep talking to her, to keep letting her in.

“For majority of the time I was in prison, he didn’t speak to me. Didn’t call, didn’t visit, didn’t put any money in my fucking commissary,” she spat, gripping onto Blake’s hand, a calloused yet gentle thumb running up to her wrist. “After that, I’m not talking to him. The only reason I’m talking to Qrow is because he helped me when I got out.”

“But you love your dad.”

“I did, until he decided he didn’t want mixed up with the criminal element. AKA, me,” she chuckled bitterly. She stayed fixated on their hands intertwined - which Blake didn’t mind - flexing her fingers and splaying out her palm just to see how small Blake’s hand was in comparison to her own. Despite the differences they still fit together like a puzzle piece finally slotting into place.

“You should’ve called me when you got out,” Blake said, grunting as she leaned down to rest her head on Yang’s abs. “You know I always answer your calls.”

“We were broken up, I didn’t want to fuck up your life,” Yang said, chuckling when Blake rolled her eyes. “Besides, I don’t know if you would’ve had the same experience seeing me again a few months ago.”

“Why? I’m always happy to see you.”

“No, a depressed, drunk Yang sleeping on her sisters sofa isn’t appealing. Trust me, I met her.” Blake hummed, fingers tracing under Yang’s t-shirt to scratch her nails over the skin.

“I’ve also met depressed, drunk Yang,” Blake says, voice soft as she looks up to Yang. Lilac meeting gold. “And all she needed was for someone to look after her... just love her and be there.”

The other hand came out from under Yang’s head, carding through Blake’s hair. “I love you...” Yang said quietly. Blake’s heart skipped a beat, missed a step and tripped as soon as she heard Yang say that. It always did, it was something she would never get used to but never grew tired of. “I also love your new hair, it looks really good on you.”

“I like it, but I think it makes me look old,” Blake said, sweeping her hair back as she sat up. Yang’s hand slid down from her hair to her waist, just gently holding her. “I think it makes you look hot,” Yang said. One knee curled up, her foot bouncing as she and Blake smiled at each other. It was nice, domestic. Something Blake had, lost, and wanted back. Now, she had it.

The curled up leg swung left and right, finally knocking off of Blake’s thigh to get her attention. “Wanna go out later?” Yang asked, nodding at Blake and smiling hopefully. She raised an eyebrow, because there was always a catch to Yang’s plans. The motive was always the same, she just wanted to be around Blake. But somehow dinners turned into road trips with Yang, not that Blake complained, but it was always out of the blue.

She also... didn’t know how to dress for out of the blue. Which was why it was slightly annoying.

“Don’t make that face, c’mon, just go on a date with me tonight,” Yang laughed, her nose scrunching up slightly. “Why tonight? Why not in a couple days?” Blake said, flicking an eyebrow upwards to challenge her. Yang took the bait, as always, chuckling and scratching her head.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’ll go back to Weiss’ place then you call me.” She lifted her hand to the side of her head, sticking out her thumb and pinky. “You say ‘hey baby, wanna go out with me next time you’re free?’ and then we go out on a date.”

There was a pang of guilt that shot through her, because despite what some people might say, she literally could not say no to Yang about anything. Right now, Yang looked so good. Better than she had when Blake first saw her again. Because there were no more dark circles under her eyes, and she didn’t look as skinny as she was, having been fed something other than prison slop. 

A loud groan followed by a pat on her thigh told Blake to move, before Yang stood up walking off into the living room. She had no idea what Yang had left to do, but she rolled to her own side of the bed, lying on her back and waiting for Yang to reappear. Until her phone began to buzz, and she dreaded the thought of Weiss calling her right now with a list of reprimands.

Grabbing her phone, she realised it wasn’t Weiss; it was Yang. Her finger slid across the answer button, as that was the most natural response from her.

“Hey baby,” Yang cooed over the phone, appearing in the bedroom doorway, standing there with a stupid grin on her face that made Blake laugh. “I know you’re hungover and it’s really sudden, but I was wondering if you want to go out for dinner later? Because I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Blake giggled again, like a little girl. Dopey and in love. “Yeah, I’d love that... I don’t want to wait either.”

* * *

“Do you think we should get matching tattoos?”

“Yeah.”

Yang blinked a few times, looking over at Blake incredulously. Blake laughed, raising an eyebrow at her. “What?” She asked, reaching over the trucks console to rest over Yang’s hand that rested on the gear shift. “I didn’t think you would agree to something like that,” she laughed, hand flicking the indicator upwards as she spun around a corner. 

“Why not, I’ve already got that tattoo on my hip. _I’m tainted_ ,” Blake stage whispered the last part, followed by both of them laughing. It was a tattoo of a quote from one of her favourite plays. As cliche as it was, it was from A Midsummer Nights Dream. It read; ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’. That quote had never been truer in her lifetime than it was now.

“Shut up, that thing looks really good on you. You can pull off tattoos like that,” Yang giggled, half smiling over at Blake. Sometimes that smile made her feel like she was in a rom-com, like one look and it was all over for her. In a sense, that’s what had happened. She had looked out her friends dorm window and seen a drunk fool on the ground, with the most gorgeous face she had ever seen.

They slipped into a comfortable silence, but she could tell Yang wanted to keep talking, words bouncing around inside of her head in need of release. Fingers tapped against the steering wheel, eyes locked onto the car in front of her, stuck in traffic. “Remember when we went to see midsummer nights dream? You were so excited that you called your mom.”

“ _Oh my god_ , I remember that,” Blake laughed, happy memories suddenly unlocked. “She thought I called to tell her that I was engaged.”

“Yup, then when we went to Utah that weekend to visit them, your mom slapped me because I spent eight-hundred dollars on those tickets.”

They both laughed again, toothy smiles taking over. “It was a good night...” Blake said, quietly reflecting on it. She wasn’t lying either, she remembered the few times they had went to plays and musicals. Going to them had never been planned out for her, it happened by Yang finding out her schedule and surprising her with tickets. But this was a special occasion, she bought front row tickets for Christmas.

It had been amazing, for her at least, Yang had kept her head rested on Blake’s shoulder for the entire runtime, just trying to keep up with the flowery language. Then her mom had been so disappointed that the gift from Yang wasn’t a ring, but her rebuttal was that she had barely just turned twenty-one and that they weren’t getting married. Not then anyway. Plans had already been written up in her head though.

“Three hours of Shakespeare is a good night? You’ve got a skewed idea of fun babe.” Yang smirked at her, parking her truck cleanly at the edge of the street. Blake glanced out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of where they were going. It was when she saw a sushi restaurant with bright blue lights that she had to pause for a moment.

“Yang, you don’t like sushi.”

“I don’t, but this place also sells burgers and curries, so we both get what we want,” Yang said, offering a smile as she pointed to the restaurant. “I learned to compromise in prison, it prevented me from getting stabbed. And now, it’ll stop you from stabbing me.”

“Let’s not joke about that, your therapist told you not to.”

“My therapist tells me a lot of things that I choose not to listen to-“

“ _Yang.”_

Yang merely laughed, winking playfully. Blake wanted to believe she wasn’t being serious, but she really didn’t know. She hoped for the former. 

* * *

The restaurant was fairly quiet, and by fairly quiet Blake meant that it was _literally_ quiet. Filled with couples in their own bubbles at their table, their voices never raising above a whisper. In fact, she swore she hadn’t seen any of them speak. Her and Yang kept exchanging baffled looks as they both scoped out the restaurant from their table next to the wall. 

“Can you imagine the embarrassment if someone burped right now,” Yang said, giggling quietly. Blake laughed with her, lips pursed to try and stop herself from laughing too loudly. Or at least, not laughing louder than the noise threshold in this place. Nothing could be louder than it’s smooth jazz coming over the intercom. 

“Can you imagine the embarrassment if someone laughed out loud in here, _seriously_ ,” Blake said, both of them laughing again. She sipped at her wine to try and stop herself. As soon as her hangover disappeared, she was drinking about. Not an alcoholic, she was just very into drinking alcohol. Fake alcoholic was the term she was using currently. 

She hummed before swallowing her wine, gesturing to Yang. “I can’t believe you wanted to order a ninety dollar steak, what is wrong with you?” Blake laughed quietly, gaining a nudge under the table from Yang’s foot. “It’s not my fault it sounded delicious... but I suppose I can settle on cheaper, _less_ delicious sounding steak.” She rolled her eyes playfully before winking. 

“When we go back to your place, can you do something for me?” Blake asked, biting her lip as she peered up at Yang through her eyelashes. She nodded, sincere and sure. “Call your dad-“

“ _Blake_ -“

“Just listen, okay?” Her voice bordered on a plea, which Yang sighed at and settled with. Content to listen. She didn’t know if she was overstepping, but she had known Yang long enough to know that she needed people. Pretended not to, that she was fine alone, that nothing phased her. Acted like she was unshakeable. That was all it was though; a facade. A mask Blake had to tear off of her more times than she could count.

“After _everything_ with your dad when you were a kid, you still loved him. _Right_?” Blake said softly, brows furrowed as she looked across at her girlfriend. Yang nodded, scratching her forehead. “I did, so that makes this the second time he turned his back on me because it got too hard for him.”

Yang sighed and reached across the table for Blake’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Blake, I appreciate it, but I’m not talking to him. _I’m done_.” She made sure to pronounce ‘done’ with as much emphasis as she could, it got the point across. “You need family though, Yang. You love it.”

“I would be content with just you and Ruby being my family... and _occasionally_ Qrow but that part’s up for debate,” Yang chuckled, Blake having to laugh with her. Sincerity was all Blake could see and hear. But at the same time, it broke her heart to hear Yang say that. Because she knew family meant so much to her, even if her own one wasn’t the best.

“I just want you to be happy. Even if that means making up with your dad.”

“I forgot you and my dad hate each other.”

“I don’t hate him, I just... _hate_ some decisions he makes,” Blake said calmly. Yang chuckled and leaned backwards in her seat, arms folded across her chest. She made a point of raising an eyebrow, smirking as she gave Blake an unconvinced look. “If you don’t hate your dad, then _I_ don’t hate him.”

“Aw babe, that’s so sweet of you.”

“Shut up.”

“I love you.”

Blake paused in the middle of taking a sip from her wine, almost choking on her drink. Yang smirked again, like she had won a competition. Blake swallowed, smacking her lips as she crossed her arms as well, mimicking Yang’s position. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to your dad? I can go with you over to his place,” she said, trying to be as reassuring as she could be.

“I don’t want to, honestly. I just wanna be with you,” Yang cooed, winking at her. Blake giggled, mouthing, “ _Okay_.” The waiter came over, wafts of fish and beef mixing together as the plates were sat down in front of them.

“This sashimi better be amazing or I’m divorcing you,” Blake joked, smirking across at Yang as she reached for her wine again. Yang crinkled her nose up, chuckling. “You would never, you love having me around.”

Blake flicked an eyebrow as she began slicing up a part of her fish, biting into it and chewing thoughtfully. “Yeah, but that’s just because I love you-“

“Let’s not turn this into a competition, Blake.”

“You started it.”

As Blake looked up, she paused, heart dipping down, bobbing in the water. There was a flash of red hair, swished sideways, eyeliner better than most women. Scarlet had walked in, presumably with his boyfriend, and she could see him looking over at her. And she didn’t know how to handle a situation like that.

“Hi, Blake!” Scarlet said politely, his heels clicking off of the floor as he walked over. She ran a tongue along her teeth, preparing for the awkward realisation he would have, if he hadn’t had it already. “Hi, Scarlet, it’s nice to see you,” Blake said, reaching forward and gripping her glass of wine in preparation.

“I heard about Sun, I’m sorry. Although, I can’t say I’m surprised,” he said, flicking an eyebrow. He had always been quite sassy, she couldn’t deny that. Glancing over at Yang, she chewed silently on her food, trying not to laugh at the awkward tension. “Yeah... uh, this is my girlfriend Yang,” Blake said, holding a hand out towards Yang.

It was that moment where the realisation set in for Scarlet, and the tension somehow got worse. He nodded, slowly, eyes widening as he continued to do so. “Uh... hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Scarlet,” he said, sticking his hand out towards Yang. She hummed and nodded, grabbing his hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said, glancing over at Blake before pulling her hand back.

“Uh, Sun said-“

“I don’t want to know what Sun said. I’m not answering his calls for a reason,” Blake said, sighing and taking a sip of wine. She could see Yang getting uncomfortable, so she wanted to end this as quickly as possible. “Right, he- he said that.” Scarlet cleared his throat, awkwardly scratching his neck. “I’ll uh... I’ll let you both get back to your... _date_.”

“Yeah, it was nice seeing you.”

“Yup, nice seeing you both,” he said, clearly trying to leave as quickly as he could. 

Blake downed the rest of her glass, sighing as she went back to eating, waiting a few moments before looking up at Yang who was doing the same thing. They both giggled quietly at each other, probably both thinking the same thing. “That was fucking awkward, Yang said, shaking her head before taking another bite from her fork, teeth clacking against the metal.

“It was,” Blake agreed. “At least we’ve had an awkward encounter so now we know how to handle it.”

“Like normal people?”

“Like normal people.”

Yang stared at Blake as she took a drink from her water, a question was about to be asked, Blake could tell. Their plates were emptying, a symbol for the end, for going home to be curled up in blankets and watching movies. Which was fine, it was her life now, and she liked it.

“So, about Sun,” Yang said, sucking on her teeth as she placed her cutlery on the plate. “If you hadn’t have found me again. Would you have married him?”

Blake shook her head, the answer was always there. She had been working backwards through this, knew she didn’t want to marry Sun from the start, knew it when she saw the ring, knew it when her parents weren’t too fond of him. “No...” she says, quietly, oh so quietly. “I didn’t want to be with him.”

“And what am I then?” Yang asked, leaning on her elbow. “Because I know what everyone else thinks. That I’m just the girl you cheated on your fiancé with. But I wanna know I’m not just your rebound, that you’re not gonna get four months in and decide you’re over it-“

“Yang, what the fuck are you even saying. _I love you_ ,” Blake said, leaning forward on the table so she could be closer. “You know that. I’m not going anywhere, _okay_?”

The blonde nodded, smiling softly. “I’m sorry for asking- I sound like a fucking kid, so needy-“

“You do, but it doesn’t matter, if you need me to keep telling you that. _I will_.”

“You wanna go home?” Yang asked, gesturing to her with a nod and a thin lipped smile. Blake nodded back, smiling as well. “Yeah... I’m paying for this.”

“No you’re not.”

“Yes, I am.”

“ _No_ -“

“Okay, I’m gonna go to the bathroom then I’ll meet you at the truck.”

With that said, Blake took off to the bathroom. Going about her business as normal.

They met at the truck again, Blake climbing into the passenger seat before Yang started up the engine, joining the traffic next to them. It was nice, the radio playing, the soft lighting on them, being in the company of someone who loves you. Blake relished it.

“How much was the bill?” Blake asked, digging through the pockets of one of Yang’s jackets that she was wearing. Oversized yet it felt perfect over her.

“I thought you were getting the bill...” Yang said, looking at her with a baffled expression.

“Well, _fuck_ , I guess we can’t go there again.”

“Kinda... _kinda_ wish I got the more expensive steak then...”

They both looked over at each other before bursting into laughter, taking the moment they had caught in front of a traffic light to just laugh at each other. Blake leaned over the console to kiss Yang, constricted slightly by her seatbelt but that was fine. The lights must have changed because a car started honking behind them, but that was fine too.

She pulled away and Yang continued to drive, the truck filled with loud, melodic laughter. The whole situation was stupid, definitely something they would do, but it was still fun. It was them. And she loved it, wanted to know where this would go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading peeps, I’m back at school so updates might be a little slower. To be fair my timetable is super fucked and I have a ton of free periods so y’know I’ll probs be writing then.
> 
> Also my exam results got fixed because the government fkd us all over but it’s all good now, still hate those bitch ass government dudes tho.


	12. Like Father...

Months passed, most days disappearing to time being spent with Yang. Sometimes Weiss, but with her new relationship with Pyrrha they didn’t see each other as much as they used to. She still lived with Weiss, her things scattered around the house, clogging up the space. But Weiss would always shrug, insist that it was fine and continue about her day as if she wouldn’t rather the space to be filled with other things.

But her days were mostly spent in Yang’s apartment, curled up on the sofa, legs splayed out across the bed, lounging on the windowsill as she found sudden inspiration to write. That was happening a lot more recently, struck by inspiration all of a sudden. It might have had something to do with the warm winter sun shining through the window, bouncing off of the gorgeous blonde laying on the couch. Said blonde kept looking over at her every so often, smiling and letting out childish giggles.

“Who do you think you’re looking at?” Blake giggled, smiling and still typing away as she addressed Yang. She heard a shuffle on the sofa behind her, then a long lazy sigh. “Oh, _I’m sorry_. I’m just admiring the view,” Yang said, smugness evident in her tone.

Blake saved her work, closing over the laptop as she tilted her head to the side. “There’s not much of a view from where you’re sitting, unless you have a mirror.”

“Okay, _okay_ , cool it Casanova,” Yang laughed, being effortlessly cute as she leaned on the sofa pillows. Still dressed in a grey pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt she had thrown on after waking up, it was more of a messy kind of cute. Blake couldn’t say she was any different, she had one of Yang’s t-shirts on and a pair of her shorts, both of them drowning her.

Lazy days, like this, were always nice though. Because they were few and far between, what with the way their work shifts lined up and how they had other obligations. Apart from their days off, they didn’t see each other that much during the day. Blake worked nights, Yang worked days, there was no balance except from when they had their days off. She considered getting a new job, applications for a book store downtown and a teaching job lined up, just in case.

Setting her laptop down on the semi-empty table, she plopped down onto the sofa, knees sinking into the fabric as she moved to climb on top of Yang. She sniggered as she straddled her legs, leaning forward to wrap her arms around her neck, head tucked under her chin. She gave an affectionate nuzzle to the underside of Yang’s jaw, followed by a gentle kiss that lingered long after.

Of course, as luck would have it, her phone began to ring. Just as she was getting comfy.

Reaching over to grab her phone, she saw the familiar number, Sun’s number. His name no longer flashing up now that his contact name was deleted. She rolled her eyes and clicked the decline button.

“Who was that?” Yang asked, fingers flitting over Blake’s arm.

“It was Sun,” she says as she tries to get into her previous position. “I’m not answering.”

“What if _I_ answer?”

“Yang, _why_ would you answer?”

“Because then maybe he’ll fuck off...” she growled, that low throaty way that always shot straight between Blake’s legs. Blake sighed and cuddled further into Yang, encouraging her to hold her and relax for a moment before she got too riled up about a stupid phone call. Yang seemed satisfied enough, occupying herself with running her hand through Blake’s hair and gently massaging the knots in her neck, too.

“What are you so annoyed for?”

“I’m fine. I don’t get annoyed that much, you know that.”

“No, _you don’t_ , you’re usually very laid back,” Blake said, smirking at Yang as she sat up, face inches away from the blonde. “ _So_... what’s got you like this?”

“For a start, your _ex_ keeps calling and it’s _kind of_ pissing me off,” she laughed bitterly, scratching at her temple with her index finger. Blake hummed, throwing a glance towards her phone in shared annoyance. It was, as Yang put it, pissing her off, too. Because the phone calls always came at the most inopportune moments. Late at night when they were asleep, during the day when they were relaxing, sometimes when they were in the car together.

Sun was annoying the shit out of both of them, to put it bluntly. Because despite things clearly being over, having come to a rather abrupt end but an end nonetheless. He still called. Never sent a text or left a voicemail. Just kept calling. Over and over and over. Maybe not as often as that, actually. If Blake was to choose how many times she would round it down to about one phone call a week. But that was enough for it to be too much.

“I know. I’ll answer next time and tell him to back off, okay?” Blake says as she cups Yang’s cheek, tempting her into leaning into her touch. The blonde sighed and took the bait, leaning into her hand and wrapping her arms tight around Blake’s waist. Yang nodded at her, turned her head to press a kiss to Blake’s palm. They both giggled, leaning forward to share a real kiss between them.

It was then that the phone decided to buzz for a second time, causing both of them to groan and flop sideways, moving further into the cushions. Blake sat up, reaching over to grab her phone. But there was no missed phone calls. No new messages or voicemails.

She hummed, reaching over for Yangs phone instead. “It’s your dad, babe,” she said, passing the phone over to Yang as she moved back into her previous spot on top of said girl. Yang raised an eyebrow, tentatively taking the phone from her, eyes scanning over the text message that had lit up on the screen.

“Hey kid, me and Zwei are missing you a bunch. I was wondering if you and Blake would want to come over for dinner tonight,” Yang read aloud, before tossing her phone to the side, the item sliding down into the cushions somewhere. Blake gasped and reached for the phone, slapping Yang’s chest.

“We should go-“

“ _Why_ should we go,” Yang says, sighing and shaking her head in annoyance. “Like what is the point in that? We can just stay here and have dinner together, watch a move or something. We’ve still got a ton of shows to watch.”

“The point is, this is the first time he said you can bring me with you,” Blake said, smiling smugly as though she had won a prize. They both paused for a moment, Blake retaining her vaguely excited and hopeful look. But Yang stared blankly, face completely neutral as to not give away her true feelings on the matter. “You know you want to,” Blake sang.

The blonde hummed, not a confirmation or a denial, just a sound to affirm that she had listened to what Blake had just said. Instead of answering, she dropped her phone onto the table, wrapping a leg around Blake as she flipped their positions. The raven haired girl was effectively stuck under Yang’s weight, but didn’t complain because it was still somehow soft and warm. Her hands travelled under Yang’s shirt, searching for warmth now that the blanket had fallen off of them.

Yang trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck, teeth lightly scraping the skin as she continued downwards. Blake knew what she was doing, the common deflection. The most used distraction in the book that - actually - rarely worked on Blake but Yang tried it anyway.

“Let’s just stay in, I’ll make it worth your while,” Yang whispered, a hand sliding down Blake’s leg to hike it upwards. Blake chuckled, shaking her head and running a hand through Yang’s hair, scratching at the scalp. “Blake, work with me here.”

“ _Yang_...”

“Fine, _maybe_ ,” Yang growled as she sat up, pushing back her hair as she sat on Blake’s lap, a hand flat on her stomach to hold her upright. “But we need to set some rules for when we get there.”

“Like, _please_ don’t kiss me in front of your dad because it’s awkward?”

“How dare you, that’s exactly why I do it.” Yang grinned, lazy yet evil in its own right. Honestly, it was amazing how Yang could be expressive in the most odd ways. She sat her hand over Yang’s, finger tracing from her wrist to her biceps. “I meant like, if I... if I seem like I might lose my temper...”

“I’ll keep you calm, I’ve got you,” she said. Blake’s hand tugged on Yang’s arm to pull her down on top of her, which she was once again goaded into doing. Both arms snaked under Blake, wrapping around and hugging her tight as she nuzzled into her neck. “Although, I can’t promise I won’t lose my temper if he says anything either.”

“Blake, that’s _impossible_. We both know being the first to yell is my thing.” They both laughed, Blake enjoying the warmth from the other girl. “I... uh, I’ve also got something for you-“

“Can you stop buying me gifts.”

“I mean, it’s more of a change of lifestyle than a gift,” Yang chuckled as she rolled off of her, skipping off into the bedroom as her laugh rang out. Intrigued, Blake sat up, eyes trained on the door until Yang returned. “Does it beat the leather jacket I got you?” Blake said, voice raised so Yang could hear her. She leaned forward for the can of soda on the table.

“Let’s not compare, you know I love that jacket!”

“You better, it was expensive as fuck...” Blake murmured into the can, taking a sip from it.

Yang returned, hands clasped behind her back and a goofy grin plastered on her face. She kneeled on the sofa, the cushion dipping under her as she came closer to Blake. “So... I was thinking-“

“You can do that?”

“Shut up,” Yang says as she nudges Blake with her knee. “Anyways, I was thinking that, you’re always here, I’m always here-“

“Yes, as you live here.”

Yang paused for a moment, jaw dropping in fake shock. She leaned forward, putting her full weight onto Blake, climbing into her lap again. “You’re such an _asshole_ ,” Yang giggled, Blake joining in and pressing her lips to the column of Yang’s throat. “Okay, I’m sorry, finish what you were gonna say,” Blake said.

Her hand came out from behind her back, dangling a set of keys with a key fob, an actual door key and a little book charm with a black cat alongside it. She nodded for Blake to take the keys, which she did, then she held them there in the air so that she could stare at them.

“Wanna move in with me?” Yang asked softly, eyes flitting between Blake and the set of keys.

“Are you serious?”

Blake bit her bottom lip, trying to suppress her smile, eyes darting around as she didn’t entirely know what to say. The keys jingled as her hand wavered and she noticed Yang nodding, smiling unashamedly. She clutched the keys in her hand and, suddenly, intrinsically, they both started laughing.

“Yeah,” Blake says before biting her tongue. “Yeah, I’ll need to call Weiss.”

“You’re serious? Like, we can call Weiss then swing by to pick up your stuff kind of serious?”

“Yeah... yeah, we can do that-“

Yang tried to cut her off, leaning forward in an attempt to capture her lips. Blake’s finger pressed against them instead, pushing her back slightly and making her whine. “Only if you have dinner with your dad, just talk to him, figure things out.”

Another groan, followed by a mop of blonde hair flopping down onto her shoulder. Unbelievably dramatic, Blake thought. “Alright, you win. _Yes_ , we will go have dinner with my dad.”

“In that case, I’ll call Weiss.”

* * *

Despite having pushed Yang into having dinner with her dad, the closer they got to his house, the more Blake was beginning to regret this decision. It would be helpful, of course, it would bring Yang closure, possibly bring her closer to her family again. But Tai didn’t exactly _like_ Blake. 

Honestly, Blake didn’t think he had ever liked her. Of course, she was always welcome, she was his daughters girlfriend and that meant _something_. But she supposed, after the first year of dating, he began to dislike her. Which was predictable, after everything with Adam she couldn’t exactly blame him. There was also the way he wasn’t fond of her being at family events or how he claimed that Blake ran him down in private. 

Which she did, he wasn’t a first class dad. But she never shared that thought with anyone, just kept it to herself because it was better that way. Kept everything from being complicated.

She continued texting on her phone as Yang drove, her truck rattling as it went over a speed bump. There was soft rock music playing over the radio, Yang quietly humming to herself. Blake found it funny how she had made it a point to search out the jacket and boots Blake had bought her, throwing them on and coordinating everything else around those. Yang was also aware that her dad and Blake weren’t fond of each other. 

** [Weiss: 18:23]  **

You’re not coming back alive later.

** [Blake: 18:23]  **

shut up, it’s gonna be fine. 

** [Weiss: 18:24]  **

I started packing your stuff. 

** [Weiss: 18:24]  **

Just FYI. 

** [Weiss: 18:24] **

Also, I think I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone. 

“Weiss just said she’s gonna miss me.”

“ _Ha_ , screenshot that. You can use it against her later when she claims she hates you.” 

** [Blake: 18:25]  **

you’re still gonna see me all the time, we’ve got your songs to work on.

** [Blake: 18:25]  **

also your gig at that bar is this weekend, so i’ll see you then.

** [Weiss: 18:25]  **

Not the same. 

The car pulled up in front of the familiar house, assortments of flowers littered the garden, the grass freshly cut and stinging Blake’s nose. It was strange being back here, her hand in Yang’s as they walked down the small grey pathway. Because she wanted to believe that she was back years ago and nothing had happened, so they could have dinner in peace whilst she and Tai had a silent argument with locked eyes and scary glares.

Instead she was here, _still_ with Yang, pulled to each other like they were magnetic. Yet even though they remained, everything had changed around them, so it was only a matter of navigating through that, of finding a way to continue forward in this maze they created through circumstance.

Instinctively, Blake reached forward to open the door, because she was used to feeling alone, used to opening doors for herself. But Yang beat her to it, the door swinging open as they both walked inside, her hand on Blake’s lower back to gently push her through the doorway first.

The first thing that had Blake almost tearing up was the pictures on the wall. Baby pictures, Yang’s awkward teenage years, parties and weddings from the beginning of Yang’s twenties. There was a noticeable age gap between the baby pictures and when Yang was in high school, a gap that Yang chose to ignore entirely by completely bypassing the hallway and stepping into the living room.

“ _Yang_? Is that you?” Tai yelled from the kitchen, or at least that’s where Blake assumed he was.

“Yeah, me and Blake are here...” she grumbled, guiding them both into the kitchen, where Tai was.

There was a clanging of plates, followed by profanities being murmured in the quiet. Tai stood, hair dishevelled and scratching at his neck as he stirred the pot in front of him. She had to laugh at the his getup. Because despite it being freezing outside, Tai was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, paired with cargo shorts and sandals. He looked like he belonged on a beach.

“Dad, what the hell are you wearing?” Yang laughed. Deciding to multitask, Yang took off her jacket and gestured for Blake to do the same, taking them both into her hands.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? It’s boiling in here!” It was, Blake couldn’t deny that.

Yang’s hand pressed against the wall as she moved, reading the digital thermostat on the wall. “You’ve got the ac up at ninety-five, no wonder it’s so hot in here,” She laughed, turning it back down to a neutral temperature without permission. “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom, I’ll be back in a second.”

Yang left as quickly as she had came into the room, leaving both Blake and Tai a little baffled at her sudden absence.

Blake walked further into the room, leaning against the back of one of the dining room chairs. Tai twisted around, hands braced on the counter behind him. They both just looked at each other for a moment, awkward, no Yang there to fill the gap.

“How has Yang been? I know she’s been fine at work, but... you know, at home.” Tai cleared his throat as he looked up at Blake.

“She’s been fine. It took a while to get her out of her prison habits, but apart from that she’s been absolutely fine.”

“Good,” he said, tapping his fingers off of the counter. “That’s good...”

Awkward silence returned, because Blake didn’t know how to fill the space. It had always been a little awkward, talking to Tai. Qrow was better, she could hold a conversation with him. But Tai was... _difficult_. Like how Yang would get difficult when she was in a bad mood. But there was a question lingering, evident in his creased brow.

“What is it, Tai?” She asked, trying her best not to come off as standoffish. “I know you want to ask something.”

“Why did it take so long for Yang to come talk to me?” Tai asked, huffing out a breath as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

Blake narrowed her eyes, mouth slightly agape in genuine disbelief, she caught onto the insinuation. “Because you left her in that prison like it was a babysitting program, like you were just dropping your kid off after school.”

His jaw tightened and he turned away.

“Sure, I wasn’t there either. But I’m doing _everything_ to make up for that.” She ran a hand through her bangs, glancing towards the door to make sure Yang hadn’t came back yet. It wasn’t a conversation she wanted Yang to hear. “I’ve been telling her for months to speak to you, even if it was just to make herself feel better.”

“I’m trying to run a business sort out my own affairs, she’ll get over it eventually, she’s an adult-“

“She’s your _daughter_ ,” Blake said, exasperated and breathy, exhausted from this chat they were having. “All you have to do is apologise instead of just expecting it all to go back to normal.”

Again, a silence filled the room, except this time there were incredulous looks and exhausted breaths being taken. Because this battle had been going on for far to long between them, and it wasn’t fair. The choice between the girlfriend and the father, wasn’t fair. They had both fucked up along the way, had nothing to argue about, because there was nothing in the first place.

“That’s all you had to do... just be her dad,” Blake said, deciding she had to finish this. “But you want to blame me...”

Loud footsteps, the sound implying Yang must have been bouncing along the floorboards, then the kitchen door was being thrown open again. Yang whistled cheerfully, smiling as she looked at Blake. Tai turned away, scooping stew onto the bowls that were already laid out for him. Blake bit her tongue, looking down at the floor as her fingers tapped on the wooden chair.

“What were you guys talking about?” Yang asked, a hand coming to rest on Blake’s waist. Blake shook her head, head tilting to the side so she could see Yang, who was giving her a more serious look than her tone had let on.

“Talking about how therapy has been helping you,” Blake said, smiling and sliding her arm down Yang’s arm, the skin oddly cold under her touch. The blonde hummed, nodding in agreement with her. Tai’s head twisted to the side.

“Yeah, how’s that been for you, kid?”

“Good, it’s helped with some nightmares,” Yang said, grinning as she began leaning forward to kiss Blake. “I’d say Blake helped a ton though.” Another kiss.

Tai rolled his eyes, now moving to set the plates down on the table. He muttered an excuse me, pulling his shorts up as he left the room.

“I told you not to do that,” Blake whispered.

“I could hear you both from the living room,” Yang whispered, nose nuzzling her cheek. “You don’t need to do that though, I’ll talk to him.”

Tai returned a few minutes later, and dinner was in session. If that was even a phrase. It was honestly such a strange time for Blake, not because she was annoyed, no, it was because... well, Yang didn’t talk to him.

Which made the last half hour more awkward than it should have been. Tai kept talking about Zwei, how Ruby had him right now because her and Penny were testing out what it would be like to have their own pet.

So that was the only topic of conversation, that and Yang’s recovery from a her experience in prison. Trauma was a strange bonding point. Their food was long gone, eaten and forgotten, satisfied with the meal. But the conversation kept droning on.

On and on and on.

Blake barely said two words, any time she did the conversation would either die or Tai would just give her a strange look that made her feel like she should just stop talking altogether. Yang, as perceptive as ever, noticed every detail. Read into it like a kid taking their English lit exam and having to analyse it until there was nothing left.

“What’re you doing for work, Blake?” Tai asked, which took her aback slightly because he hadn’t addressed her this entire night. The raven haired girl cleared her throat, scratching at her head nervously. “Uh, I’m working at a bar in Santa Monica,” Blake said, sucking on her teeth.

“I thought you would be some big shot novelist by now.” He laughed but something about it seemed snide, in a way that both she and Yang caught on to.

“What’s with that? The antagonising.” Lilac eyes darkened, almost as if the hue was changing colour, diluting into a red as the anger seeped through. Tai raised an eyebrow, chuckling nervously. “What’re you talking about?”

“I don’t know, it’s just that the way you’re wording everything, it’s like you’re _trying_ to insinuate that me not speaking to you is somehow Blake’s fault.” Her nose crinkled up as she spoke and Blake decided to take a step back from this one, gently grabbing Yang’s knee under the table to keep some sort of calm.

“Yang, don’t be stupid, she’s practically family.” His hand outstretched as he pointed to Blake, nodding at her. She nodded back, unsure what to do with herself.

“Yes, so you’ll need to learn how to like her or else I’m not coming back over.” Yang shrugged, somehow keeping a neutral face.

Tai stammered on empty words, no sound coming out only his lips moving wordlessly. “Yang, I’m trying to make up for lost time here, you’ve gotta let me do that.”

“Why?” She shrugged against, everything seeming to tense and settle under the flesh and bone. “So you can feel better? So you can feel like you made up the lost years in hours?” 

It might’ve been getting too much, verging on something violent. It was the Xiao Long nature. If it ended, it ended with yelling and a fist connecting with your face, because that’s how they communicated. No one said it was right, no one ever agreed with their way of negotiating with one another. But everyone left it be. Watching from a window, a safe distance at least.

“No, I-I...” a deep breath followed, slowly blowing out. “I’m sorry, alright? _I am sorry_ that I wasn’t there when I should’ve been.”

Yang nodded curtly, trying to seem unaffected by it. Her tongue pushed into the backside of her bottom lip, face hardened and staring into nothing. Unreadable. Terrifyingly cold. The look always scared Blake, made her fear a little for her girlfriends sanity. Not that she would blame Yang for going a little batshit by this point, she somehow attracted bad luck to herself. And was attracted to bad luck, if Blake herself was anything to go by.

The chair scraped against the floor as Yang stood up, moving behind Blake’s chair and ushering her to get up as well. She did, always willing to follow Yang and let herself be led by her.

“Where are you going?” Tai asked, arms outstretched as he stood up, watching now as Yang guided Blake to the doorway.

“To properly move Blake into the apartment, besides,” Yang said, shrugging and face dropping, “I got what I came for.”

* * *

They ended up texting Weiss, telling her they would pick up Blake’s boxes which they did, quickly dumping them in the closet when they got home.Right now, they wanted to go back home and relax, try and take their minds off of the shit-storm that was dinner.

Yang was laying down on the bed, left arm holding the pillow in a vice grip. Their bedroom was lit up only by the bright streetlights coming in through the window, leaving the room in shades of purple and gold. The lighting was actually rather nice, but the picture it was lighting up was rather dull.

The blonde hadn’t bothered to get changed out of her clothes. She just came home, collapsed in her bed- their bed, as Yang emphasised to her when they got home. She looked so... vulnerable. An open wound that needed cleaning and a little help to heal.

Blake clambered across the bed, getting stuck in the linen. She rested her head on Yang’s shoulder, an arm wrapping around her. “Are you okay?” She asked, dragging her fingers up and down Yang’s abs in a soothing manner. Although it might have been more therapeutic to herself than anyone else.

“I’m fine,” Yang said, chuckling lowly, “just tired is all.”

Blake hummed, understanding how and why she would be tired. Blake was tired too, just wanted to relax for a while, but didn’t want to retreat to their bed just yet.

“Why don’t I get the water running and we can take a both together? Hmmm?” Blake proposed, pressing a kiss to Yang’s jaw. “We can sit the laptop on something and watch that reality show about the housewives.”

Yang chuckled, twisting into her back, bringing Blake’s hand up to her lips and trailing kisses along her knuckles. “That sounds great, thank you,” she said softly.

Blake went to stand up, only to be tugged back down, Yang smiling at her in the most gentlest of manners. “Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“For choosing me,” Yang says, soft and sincere because that’s all she’s ever been with her and Blake loves it. “For loving me.”

There were a lot of things Blake wanted to say. That for the two years she was in prison, Yang was all that she thought about. That every time she was with Sun she would imagine he was her, because she couldn’t let go, because it meant everything to her. Never, in her life, did she imagine herself being without Yang. Because this, them, it was everything.

Every romantic trope rolled into one, the potential for everything and nothing. No matter how complicated they somehow understood.

“I would never choose anyone else...”

Yang smiled, teeth pearly white and glittering in the dull light. And that meant everything to Blake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We do be back at school, we do be updating in between hwk. But what we don’t be doing is studying because I genuinely can’t sit down and study, it’s impossible. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks everyone for reading this chapter, we’ve got two more chapter until the end. Which is kind of wild...


	13. Christmas

Blake had to admit, there hadn’t been a happier point in her life. Honestly, she was so joyful with her life now.

She got another job, which Velvet was more upset about than anyone because she claimed that she would miss Blake. A job in a bookstore, where they promoted her to the manager in just a few months because the other guy really had _no clue_ what he was doing. She loved it, because the hours were better and she could see Yang more (plus the wages were higher, but she didn’t tell Velvet that).

The apartment was redecorated, as demanded by Yang, so that it felt like they both lived there. It was a good decision overall. Because now it felt more like a home, with the warm yellow walls and light grey sofa, as opposed to its previous dull monotone colours, making it feel like a prison cell. 

There was a lot that had happened in the last few months. For a start, there was the fact that Yang had completely stopped talking to her dad, to the point where she now works at another garage. Which was upsetting, because Blake knew that deep down Yang must have some feelings on the matter, even if she pretended like she didn’t. 

Outside, there was a slight gust of wind and the rain battering off of the window. The only reason Blake found comfort in it right now was because she was curled up on Yang’s chest, warm and cozy, watching a movie together. It was around the Christmas season, where they had both managed to get a few weeks off for the holiday season. 

Christmas was always a strange holiday for her, because it was never really celebrated by her. Sun would always want to visit his friends or his parents and Blake preferred to just spend her day with Weiss. But this year was different, of course, because she could spend her time with Yang instead. 

“Don’t you feel weird? Like, only spending Christmas with me?” Yang asked as she adjusted the blanket over the two of them, protecting them from the cold seeping in through the windows. Blake hummed, pretending to consider the thought. “No,” she replied plainly. 

“Really?”

“I’ve spent every Christmas getting drunk with Weiss, I’d say this was a nice change of pace.”

“You don’t think you’re gonna miss your little tradition?” Yang grinned, hand skipping over Blake’s shoulder blade and sliding into her hair. “Like, you might get to tomorrow and be like ‘ _where’s my Weissicle?_ ’” 

Blake laughed, melodic and small, just enough for them both to hear. She lightly slapped Yang’s arm, nothing really meant by it. “I’ll see Weiss on Christmas, _however_ ,” Blake sang as she began to sit up, hand pressing down onto Yang’s chest to balance herself. “You’re stuck with a Belladonna-Rose hybrid kind of Christmas Eve.”

“I know, your parents and Ruby is gonna be a weird combination,” Yang said. Her hands instinctively slid to Blake’s waist, making sure she doesn’t fall or topple over by accident. Their new sofa was pretty precarious, what with their sliding cushions and all, but so was the position they were sitting in.

“My parents in a room with both of us is always weird, you have this weird bond with my dad and football.”

Blake continued to speak despite Yang’s hands wandering wherever they pleased, with Blake having to swat her away more than once when she got too handsy for her liking. It resulted in both of them giggling, exchanging kisses like love notes passed in class. Yang hummed, pulling back slightly.

“Want to hear a story about what happened at Christmas when was I in prison?” Yang asked. Blake sat up to stare down at her, an unamused glare that screamed that she meant business. The blonde laughed, her nose scrunching up as she did so. “It’s not a bad story, it’s actually really funny.”

“Fine... tell me your _Christmas carol,_ ” Blake said, pushing herself back and propping herself up on the cushions as she watched Yang.

“Okay, so, we get served Christmas dinner in there, y’know because it’s a holiday,” Yang explained, hands waving around as she spoke. “And the woman who runs the kitchen had bribed a guard to bring a single turkey into the prison for dinner.”

“That only feeds, like, ten people.”

“Yup, which meant the only people who got a piece were the ones who protected the turkey-“

“You’ve lost me, why were you _protecting_ a raw bird,” Blake giggled, thinking this whole scenario sounded ridiculous but most definitely something in the realm of possibility for Yang. “In case someone tried to steal it, shit was cutthroat in there sometimes.” 

“Anyways, Christmas Day came, I got my well deserved turkey dinner and I won a snickers bar in a game of pin the guards baton,” Yang said cheerily. Yet the story was... glum. Like, everything she had said was an everyday occurrence if you wanted it to be, except from the fact that she had to protect a turkey. Blake supposed that was the moral here, not to take things for granted and count your blessings.

“My last Christmas,” Blake said, grinning as she played with Yang’s hair, feeling how soft it was, “was a mess.”

“Explain.”

“It was basically just that me and Weiss got very drunk, then we accidentally trashed Sun’s house before fucking off to my parents’ place.”

“You totally did that on purpose.”

“I did...” she said, gulping. Unlike Yang’s story, there was no moral here, no meaning behind the madness. Just a petty girl who was still too immature about everything to care. The only moral here was that Blake had been and probably still was a mess, because she was broken. And no one wanted to keep their broken things anymore, these days everything was replaceable.

“I hope you’re gonna like your present...” Blake said quietly, absentmindedly stroking Yang’s cheek. Hair framed Yang’s face, once harsh features seeming delicate now after months of pampering. There were little scars, ones that were scattered across her face, wounds from fights that never quite healed. Little rough patches of skin on her nose, a slit on her mouth where Blake’s lips often caught on it.

The scars seemed pleasant now, a harsh memory they could brush over and look back to brag that they survived.

“ _What is_ my present?” Yang asked, her hand brushing over the scar on Blake’s up. “You’re awfully mysterious about it.”

“I’d say it’s more of a commitment than a present.”

“A dog?” Yang mused, eyes glinting now as they played this guessing game. Blake shook her head still, smirking now. “Not quite.”

She knew what it was herself, hidden in a little black box within the lining of her suitcase, where Yang would never think to look. Maybe she should’ve waited another while to do this, but she really didn’t care. It felt like they were getting somewhere, like their relationship had just picked up where it left off and Blake couldn’t say that was terrible.

“Is it some weird couples trip thing? Because I’d happily do one of those,” Yang said with a grin on her face. It was filled with a cute sort of innocence, like she would be all too happy to do whatever Blake had in mind, to follow her blindly into anything. Blake giggled and shook her head, saying, “No, it’s not, but I’ll keep that in mind. It’s a surprise present.”

“ _Noooooo_ ,” Yang whined and pouted exaggeratedly, “you know surprises are too much for my heart.”

Blake didn’t want to give herself away, but she was dying to say that this was too much for her own heart. The fear of Yang saying no was just about to kill her, then there was the fear of Yang saying yes because she might actually die on the spot. Either way, some sort of implosion-meltdown would happen in her brain and she wasn’t at all prepared for that.

She had no clue how she was going to get through tomorrow without accidentally slipping up. Because her mom would definitely know she was acting strange and she would probably go moseying around the apartment in an attempt to find something as soon as Blake turned her back on her. 

“I _really_ hope you like it,” Blake says as her fingers ghost over a scar on Yang’s arm, trailing down to her hand. The blonde smiled and tilted her head to the side. She looked so soft now after spending months revitalising, all sorts of skincare and hair routines being set in motion to get herself back to normality. Blake couldn’t help but stroke her cheek, tanned and soft, golden in her complexion.

“I love everything you get me, Blake.”

* * *

They both woke up the next morning, lazy kisses being shared whilst wrapped up in each other. But something dawned on them when they had woken up some more. 

They had no clue where people were gonna sit for dinner. 

Sure, they were only getting takeout because they were saving all of the good food they had in the refrigerator for themselves and sure, there was enough space on the sofa. But it was still a little odd, Blake thought, because she knew both her parents and Ruby had dining rooms in their homes where they could eat dinner. So it might be a little shock to the system when they realise they’re going to have to balance their plates on their knees whilst they eat.

Blake had worried about it, fretted over it for a few moments as they whizzed around their apartment in an attempt to get everything set up. The apartment was clean, carpets vacuumed and surfaces shining, Blake even cleaned the sofa with the little handheld vacuum. Yang watched her do that from behind the kitchen counter as she washed the dishes, giggling at Blake’s sudden cleanliness.

“Since when do you actually clean.”

“ _Excuse you_ , I _do_ clean!”

“Yeah, after you can’t fit another thing on the damn table,” Yang chuckled, flashing a charming smirk as she leaned on the countertop. Blake gasped, a fake amount of shock at her girlfriends words. She tossed a cushion at her, the plushy object smacking Yang square in the face. “ _Hey_! That was mean as hell!”

“So was what you said!” Blake yelled, picking up another cushion to aim at Yang. The blonde took that as an invitation to dart over to the sofa, flopping down onto the sofa with her knees digging into the fabric. She grabbed the cushion from Blake’s hand, her other hand finding Blake’s in the air as they began to fake wrestle, giggling at each other.

“You’re so immature.”

“Says the person firing cushions at me.”

“Awwww,” Blake cooed, swinging their hands down to Yang’s hips as she straddled her lap, “were you hurt by that?”

The blonde fell backwards, her back sinking into the cushions from the weight of Blake pushing on her. A soft giggle escaped her lips as she leaned forward to capture her lips, smiling against Blake’s skin. “Yeah, it hurt my heart, baby.”

Blake whimpered, leaning her forehead down against Yang’s and nuzzling her nose, making them both giggle. “I can’t wait for you to see the present I got you, I finished making it last night when you were in bed,” Yang said, gaining a raised eyebrow from Blake who didn’t expect that response.

“Am I not allowed to know what it is?”

“Nope, but I might give you it early if I’m feeling nice.” Blake hummed, liking that answer. But she found that it wasn’t quite enough for her to settle with, feeling far too mischievous to settle with it. Her hand slid under Yang’s shirt, nails scraping over her abs and trailing kisses along her jaw. “What if you give me it earlier and I’ll make it worth your while.”

Yang chuckled, tried to act unaffected but her heavy breathing gave herself away. “You’re not getting me that easy, we’ve still got stuff to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like, you need to get dressed,” Yang says as she takes the fabric of the t-shirt Blake was wearing between her thumb and fore finger. “I don’t know if your parents would approve of you strutting around in _only_ one of my shirts.”

“It’s comfy, besides, I thought you liked it.”

“Please get dressed?”

“Fine.” 

* * *

Way too much time was spared between both Yang and Blake getting dressed and when their guests arrived. Despite being determined to get dressed up properly as they said they would; they did not. Blake had on one of Yang’s flannel shirts over a t-shirt, paired with some jeans and fluffy socks that she refused to take off because they were comfy. Yang stuck with her usual combo of a t-shirt and trousers, not needing any extra layers as she was already warm enough. 

Blake’s parents looked... sad. That was the only word Blake could use to describe what she was looking at. They were both sat on the sofa, which was more than large enough for all of them to sit on even when Ruby arrives. It wasn’t so much that they were sad in the normal sense, more of the unconventional nostalgic way.

“Something wrong, mom?” Blake asked as she came to sit on the sofa along with her parents, making sure to leave space on the sofa for when Yang got back from downstairs with Ruby. Kali shook her head, smiling softly at her daughter. “It’s just strange, seeing you all grown up and living here on your own.” She sniffled. Blake didn’t bother to correct her and say that she wasn’t alone, Yang was here too, because the sentiment was still nice. 

Ghira pried his eyes away from the TV screen, although he did look tempted to go back to watching the football instead. “It’s cozy enough for you both, you don’t need a big house.” He nodded, seemingly agreeing with himself more than anyone right now. Blake had to chuckle at his awkward interactions, never failing to amuse her.

“Not yet anyway.”

“Mom, we’re not even engaged. Why do you assume we want kids?”

“You both love kids.”

“That doesn’t mean we want any.”

“That also wasn’t a no,” she sang, looking and sounding as smug as ever. Blake often wondered where her smugness occasionally came from, because it certainly wasn’t from her father. Then, often times, she remembered it was her mother who she inherited her cheeky nature from.

“How is your new job? You seemed to love it when I last spoke to you,” Ghira said, sinking back into the sofa. Blake was wrong when she said that the sofa was big enough for all of them, she had forgotten that her dad was man-mountain. “It’s good, my shifts mean I can spend more time with Yang and it’s more money, so I can’t really complain.”

Kali’s lips curled up into a grin, wicked and sure. “So, things with Yang-“

“Dad, what are _you_ doing for Christmas?”

“We’re headed back home then we’re attending a New Years party.”

Kali gasped, placing a hand on her daughters shoulder. “Don’t ignore me, tell me, how are things with you and your girlfriend?”

“Fine, you know me and Yang are fine. I don’t know what you’re hinting at,” Blake said, shrugging her shoulders as she looked over her mom. Her dad sighed and rolled his eyes as if Blake had just walked into a trap. In all honesty, she probably had. Her mom was like that, always snooping and scheming.

“I found the ring in your suitcase, it was still half open-“

“Mom! _Why_ were you going through my things!” Blake barked, her face flushing red at the thought of what her mom might find in here. Because Blake was certain that the black box at the bottom of the wardrobe was not discrete and was not meant to be checked by anyone besides herself and Yang.

“Because I knew something was going on and I was right!” Kali squealed, looking far too pleased with herself.

Frustrated, Blake growled and flexed her fingers towards her mother in an action implying that she wanted to strangle her. She could hear Ruby harping on about her and Penny’s game room, indicating that she and Yang were moments away from coming through the front door.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to give it to her-“

“Why not? You’re both in a really good place and it wouldn’t really be too soon.”

“Yes, but-“

The front door cracked open, causing Blake to smooth out her bangs and sit up straight, pretending like she had been in that same perfect position for a while. Kali copied her movement, smiling politely at the two sisters as they came inside. Ghira simply rolled his eyes and continued watching the football, sipping on his beer.

Ruby smiled brightly and held up a stack of wrapped gifts, almost toppling over as she tripped over her own feet. Miraculously, she didn’t. Yang laughed, shaking her head as she placed the paper bag she carried up down onto the countertop, already spinning around the kitchen. Blake was able to discern that the bad was filled with their dinner, so she immediately joined Yang in grabbing plates and cutlery.

“Go sit down, I’ve got this,” Yang said softly, jabbing her elbow into Blake’s arm as she took a set of cutlery from her grip. A groan escaped past Blake’s lips, reaching to take back the cutlery as she was unwilling to let Yang do everything. It turned into a fight, a tussle over the dinnerware, with Blake eventually winning out.

Yang slipped her arms around Blake’s waist, resting her chin on her shoulder and observing how she laid out the dinnerware. The blonde tilted her head towards Blake, who turned her head to meet her. Their noses bumped against one another, lips so close Blake found no qualms in kissing them.

“Getting dinner tonight would be _great_!” Kali chimed. Yang hummed, slightly embarrassed as she pulled away. Blake assumed that she was so caught in the moment that she forgot that it wasn’t just the two of them tonight, they had guests. Which was adorable, in its own way. A flustered Yang would always make her heart flutter.

The blonde began helping lay the food out onto the plates, carefully listening to commands being barked from the other side of the room. It was more stressful than it should’ve been, with Blake’s dad being hyper specific about the placement of food on his plate and her mom just liking to nitpick. Ruby was quite easy when it came to dinner, as she was a super fussy eater who only ate very specific foods.

“Thank you,” Kali said as Yang handed her the dinner plate, before setting herself down next to Blake to pick away at her own food.

So far, everything had been fairly normal. With both Yang and Ghira watching the football on TV, Ruby going on a small rant about something work related that Blake couldn’t quite figure out and Kali listening intently to everything going on. Blake would say everything was going well.

The low sound level continued on for a while, with everyone exchanging few words as they ate in a comfortable quiet. Yang eventually began to start taking plates over to the counter top, opting to throw the leftovers in the trash and dump the plates into the dishwasher.

“What kind of presents did you guys buy? I got Penny a new laptop,” Ruby said, delightfully cheerful, cheeks flushed from the beers she had been drinking. Blake knew immediately that she had accidentally set her mother’s plan in motion.

“So,” Kali said, a smirk indicating she was about to start a riot. Blake snuggled into Yang as she came back to rest on the sofa, intertwining their hands and mentally preparing for whatever her mother was scheming up. “What did you two get each other for Christmas?”

“Isn’t the whole point that it’s supposed to be a surprise?” Blake said dryly.

“Not necessarily!” Ruby piped up, gaining a blank stare from Blake that screamed not to encourage Kali anymore than she already has. 

“The point is, I hope it’s something really nice,” she says, flicking her eyebrows over at Blake and Yang. “You know, something _really special_.”

“I think my present to Blake is pretty special,” Yang said, smiling unabashedly down at Blake, who only raised an eyebrow in confusion. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who was full of ideas, or maybe Yang had just bought her something thoughtful again.

Either way, Blake had to admit, she was very excited.

* * *

It was fairly late by the time Blake’s parents and Ruby left. Penny had to come pick Ruby up as she was maybe a little too intoxicated to drive on her own. 

Maybe Blake was a little drunk too. Because her mind was in a different realm, completely filled with sunshine and gardens flush with greenery. As soon as Yang had came back upstairs from walking everyone down, for some reason, Blake couldn’t keep her hand off of her. 

Neither of them complained. Blake thought that Yang would probably enjoy the feeling of her arms around her waist, head pressed into her back as they slowly traversed the house. They weren’t doing anything at all, just talking as they screwed around, cleaning things away now that their night was over and done with. 

There was a moment of domesticity, the soft and pure transition to getting ready for bed that settled in for Blake, settled on her like a second skin that she loved dearly. She took a moment to lean against the wall, watching as Yang sloppily made the bed, sitting down and waiting for Blake to finish getting changed. 

“I love you, so much,” Blake said, the words coming out before she could even process what they were. Yang smiled over at her, before adjusting herself on the bed, shorts askew as she lay there. “I love you too, baby.”

“Want an early present?” Blake asked, her hand twitching, itching to present to her what she had selected for Yang to wear. The blonde nodded, saying, “Yeah, alright, I’ll bite.”

Elated, Blake searched through her suitcase, pulling out the little black box to hide within her hands, clasped behind her back. She was nervous, and giddy, and everything all at once. Horrified is how she would put it, because there was no other word to describe what she was feeling.

Yang tilted her head to the side, giggling as she watched Blake crawl across the bed, a huge grin plastered on her face. She kept her composure as best as she could, trying to remain confident until the end. 

Slowly, she pulled the box out from behind her back, which both of them giggled at. Yang had began to laugh hysterically, already guessing what was about to happen. But she was smiling and looked happy, which was all that mattered. 

Blake, deciding to get to the point, popped open the little box and pulled the ring out, offering it up between her thumb and fore finger. 

“Yang-“

“I’m gonna cry.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Babe, I’m gonna cry,” Yang laughed, bubbly and pure, eyes watery as she threw her head back against the pillows. “You can’t be serious right now.”

“Of course I’m serious,” Blake said, a breathy laugh following after her as she leaned over Yang, forearms braced on the bed at either side of her head. “This is it for me, Yang. There’s never going to be anyone else for me. Even when I was with Sun, all I did was wish that he was _you_.”

It might’ve been too heavy; too much too fast. But Blake was bordering on desperate, needed to make sure that they were together if something happened again. She couldn’t stop thinking about something like what happened before happening, tearing them apart yet again. 

“Please... Yang.”

“Blake, of course I’m saying yes,” she laughed, reaching for Blake’s hand where she clutched the ring, bringing it to her lips and pressing a kiss to Blake’s knuckles. “This is it for me, too.”

Blake giggled and ducked her head down, sloppily kissing Yang, far too eager to do so. Yang kept humming as she tried to escape, but Blake wasn’t letting her, one hand on her jaw to keep her in place for a little while longer. The blonde hummed again and flipped them over so that she could now climb off of Blake, giggling as she hobbled across the room.

She searched around her gym bag, fishing out a thick novel and bringing it back over to Blake. She handed it over to Blake, who held an oddly delighted look on her face. It was only a hardback edition of Jane Eyre, but Blake loved the book and wanted a new copy anyway.

Yang sat beside her, eyes fixed on the way Blake opened up the book, hands hesitantly skipping over her side.

Opening it up, there was a box in the centre of the book, a hole carefully carved out of the pages to insert the box there. But that wasn’t what caught Blake’s eye, no, it was the ring inside of said box that had her taken aback.

“You kinda stole my proposal but I still want to give it to you,” Yang said softly, pressing a kiss to Blake’s temple.

Although she was sobbing before, the tears just seemed to flow now, the back of her hand over her mouth as she laughed and leaned into Yang. Yang did the same, resting her head on top of Blake’s as the chuckled and sobbed, overwhelmed by themselves.

“We’re broke as hell now aren’t we?”

“Yeah, we’re _definitely_ at least a few grand down.”

* * *

During that night, Blake was still awake and flicking through her laptop, ignoring the notifications that poured through her Instagram since she had posted a picture of their rings, too happy about it not to share the news. 

Yang snored gently beside her, an arm thrown over Blake’s abdomen as she slept. She was cute, Blake knew, in her sleep this vivacious and strong woman turned into a baby who craved affection. Which wasn’t too far off from when she was awake and they were cuddled up watching TV.

It was a strange thing, knowing that the person lying next to her was who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. It gave her a sense of comfort, because it was this feeling of knowing this person would always be there to catch her before she hit the ground, to keep her stable as she did to them.

She reached a finger under her reading glasses, rubbing the sleep out of her eye. Yang had commented on how cute she thought Blake was with her glasses on, the round lenses seeming to suit her very well. Blake glanced down at Yang, who’s hair was mussed and scattered over her face. Absentmindedly, Blake gently ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.

There was a sharp ring and a vibrate starting from the living room. Blake glanced at the door, pausing for a moment as she considered who could be calling this late. It wouldn’t be Weiss, not at three in the morning. Besides, she and Pyrrha were spending Christmas together so it was unlikely that she would hear from her until at least the afternoon.

Carefully, Blake sat aside her laptop, slipping out from under Yang’s arm. The blonde grumbled something in her sleep and tried to curl her arm around Blake, ending up cuddling into a pillow instead as Blake placed it there. She had to chuckle at how Yang moved closer in an attempt to cuddle up to her.

Blake hurried into the living room, snatching her phone from the coffee table and wandering over to the glass balcony doors as she stared at the screen.

The name was no longer there, contact deleted, bags packed and moved away. Usually she would just ignore it, but for some reason, she answered Sun’s call tonight.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Sun’s voice rasped over the speaker, sounding more awake than he should at this hour. Blake bit her lip as she felt tears prick at her eyes, holding the phone tightly against her ear as the other one was tucked across her chest. She stared out of the glass balcony doors, looking past and to the apartments across the way, decorated with lights and trees of all kinds.

“Blake? You there?”

“Yeah,” she says with a sigh, “I’m here.”

“I saw the picture you posted... congrats, I’m happy you’re happy, and all that stuff,” he said. Blake struggled to comprehend how cheery he sounded, didn’t know whether he was drunk or manic, maybe just plain insane. “And, uh, _merry Christmas._ ”

“Thank you and merry Christmas,” she said, closing her eyes and pursing her lips, on the verge of balling her eyes out. She had no idea why, she was just overwhelmed.

“How are you?” He asked, and that’s when she sniffled, a tear or two falling down her cheeks. “Are you _really_ getting upset right now?”

“Yes!” She says, a little too loudly for her own liking so she has to take a step back and check the bedroom to make sure she hadn’t woken Yang. “ _Yes_ , I’m upset. Because you keep calling and I don’t know why you do.”

Sun let out a mirthless laugh, the sound of him scratching his head coming through the phone as well. Blake took the moment of silence to recompose herself, forcing the tears down and clearing her throat. It was hard to keep the noise down in a silent apartment, with the only sound being Yang’s snores, dulled by the wall between them. 

“Because... I feel like I never understood you, y’know,” Sun says as he sighs on the other end. “I just- I want to understand you Blake, so tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me what it’s like to be you.”

Strangely, the question was nice. Actually, it might be the most intimate question he’s ever asked her. 

“It’s like I’ve always been searching for something, even when I was a kid. Homesick for a place that didn’t exist.” There was a moment where she paused, because she had thought about this question so deeply on so many different occasions that she had a script written in her head. “As I grew up, I tried to build that place I was longing for, borrowing pieces from everywhere to make up parts of a larger whole.”

“Like if you took Lego pieces from different sets?”

“Yeah,” She giggled, had forgotten his childish nature, how he clung to naivety and innocence like it was his only lifeline. “But most of those pieces, they never quite fit in anywhere, including you as awful as that sounds.”

“None taken.”

“But when I’m with Yang... it feels like something just _clicks_ , like _she is_ my missing part. And after I saw her again that night... everything just started fitting back into place- I’m sorry, this probably doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

“To me?” Sun questioned, followed by a dry chuckle. “Barely. I suppose that’s why you’re not with me though, and that’s fine.”

“I’m really sorry about everything, Sun.”

“It’s alright, it’s over now. I’m just glad I finally kind of understand why.”

Blake heard another voice in the background, someone asking him what he was doing up so late. A laughed escaped her, because how could she be so foolish to think that Sun hadn’t already moved on, he was more fly than she cared to admit sometimes.

“I’m gonna go now, but it was nice talking to you. Bye Blake.”

“Goodbye, Sun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long guys, I’ve been super caught up in school stuff because my last year means I’m doing about 8000 things at once. 
> 
> Looks like we’re at the end, and the ending to this chapter was kind of one of my favourites because I thought it was kinda heartfelt. 
> 
> Anywhos, thanks for reading everyone and I’ll see you guys in the last chapter that will be up hopefully soon but I’m pretty unpredictable.


	14. Prologue

Suddenly, everything started to fall into place, like it had always meant to be that way and Blake had just been too blind to see it.

Months turned into years, everyday identical yet different. Blake had no clue what was happening, because forever was mapped out in front of her and she wasn’t afraid of it, only excited.

They had went on a trip around a few states, Yang ecstatic to join Blake on her book tour now that she was a best selling author. It was a nice break before their wedding. 

The planning for their wedding was... stressful. Many an argument was waged over the event, with both of them arguing over who would pay their share. Even their parents got their own say in the argument, throwing a few thousand dollars on the table and declaring that they were paying for the florist and the decorator.

Blake and Yang relented, in the end, to let their parents pay their share for the wedding they had been planning since the couple were twenty. Weiss had ended up taking over the wedding plans, deciding she would take care of it before they didn’t get married at all.

On the lead up to their wedding, Blake and Yang had decided on two major changes in their lives. For a start, they sold the apartment. Using that money and the money from Blake’s book sales to buy themselves a nice house in Beverlywood. Combined with that and the split second decision that they wanted kids, went through the whole artificial insemination process and now had a _fairly pregnant_ Blake on their hands...

One could say that trying to do everything at the same time was extremely stressful.

“Do I look pregnant?” Blake asked, smoothing her hand over her belly, the lacy fabric of her dress crinkling around her fingers.

“You’re, like, four months pregnant. Of course you’re showing a little, Blake,” Weiss chuckled, sitting on the bed and watching Blake growl at her in the mirror. “It’s not noticeable.”

“Why did I do this to myself?”

“Because you want a family and you also want Yang to pamper you for nine months?” Weiss snickered, leaning back on her hands now. Blake smirked as she fixed her hair in the mirror, the black locks partly held back by flowers and vines holding them together, whilst the rest waved like a dark ocean.

“You’re oddly quiet.”

“I’m just... I’m just making sure I look nice,” Blake giggled, inspecting herself yet again in the mirror. She wasn’t nervous, not really. Self conscious if anything because she wasn’t sure if she looked good or not. The whole marriage part was fine, she would be with Yang all day so even if they messed up anything they could just laugh.

Blake wondered if that was a sign, her lack of anxiety on what should be the most important day of her life. Maybe she wasn’t nervous because it was Yang, which seemed like a good sign. She had heard stories of how people were so nervous on their wedding day they had no clue how to act. But this... this was different.

There was a knock at the door, followed by Ghira creaking the door open and sticking his head inside. “We’ve got to go downstairs for photos now, sweetheart.” 

* * *

Blake couldn’t describe her struggle to get downstairs, which resulted in both her and Weiss dying of laughter as they tried to bunch up the bottom of the wedding dress.

She had two thoughts when she walked into the ceremony room. One was that the decor was gorgeous. Whichever florist Weiss had hired had done an amazing job, everything set out exactly the way they imagined it to. From the backdrop behind the alter which was framed with flowers, to the flowers in vases down the aisle with candles in between.

“Are you thinking that this might not be a _complete_ disaster?” Yang said from somewhere behind her.

“Yes, actually,” Blake said, turning to meet Yang, who was still fiddling with the tie on her suit. Blake giggled and grabbed her tie, fixing it for her. “How can you still not do this?”

“Because I keep forgetting!”

“Such a big baby,” Blake giggled, closing her eyes as Yang quickly pecked her lips, both hands firmly locked onto her hips. 

“Speaking of baby’s, how are you feeling?” Yang asked, turning her head to the side when she heard someone else come into the room. Blake nodded and hummed, picking stray strands of hair off of Yang’s shoulders. “I feel fine. You can’t see the bump through the dress can you?”

“Nah, babe, you’re good,” Yang winked, leaning in for another kiss. “You look amazing by the way, I love your hair.”

“I love _your_ hair, I don’t know why we’ve never thought to do that with it before,” Blake said, take a moment to admire Yang’s hair. It was usually wild and untamed, but it had been stylised into a ponytail, the hair wrapping around itself at the base. 

“Blake, I don’t think I can be around you anymore today.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanna keep kissing you but I’m gonna end up messing up our makeup.” 

“It’s unbelievable that you’re twenty-eight and still such a dork,” Blake giggled, using the height from her heels to her advantage and leaning forward to kiss Yang. “Where’s the photographer?”

“She’s outside being interrogated by your mom.”

Blake whined, resting her chin on Yang’s shoulder and closing her eyes, enjoying the moments respite. “You look so hot in your suit,” Blake whispered, causing Yang to laugh at her, loud and happy. 

She couldn’t see her but Blake could imagine the way the skin would crinkle around her eyes as she laughed, which Blake always found cute. 

“Thanks. Some asshole asked why I was wearing a suit-“

“And you told them to fuck off?”

“No, I flexed my arm and said I couldn’t fit in a dress because I literally can’t. It has to be tailored and shit so it’s more hassle than it’s worth.”

Blake raised an eyebrow, smirking at Yang as she said, “Show off.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw the photographer waltzing into the middle of the aisle with her tripod, setting up her camera facing towards the alter. Catching on, after years of having to catch onto Blake’s subtle looks, Yang nodded towards the photographer before both of them set off in that direction. 

* * *

The ceremony so far was... _nice_.

By nice, Blake meant that she and Yang kept laughing at each other the entire time the officiant was going through the speech. Which gained them both disapproving looks from their parents and a shared laugh from Ruby. 

But their vows were coming up and Blake had too many things to say, her mind going a mile a minute as she added things on to what she had written down. But what she had written down seemed like bullshit compared to what she would like to say now. 

“-Please now read the vows you have written for each other.”

Blake realised she had zoned out, blinking a few times as she glanced over at Weiss who flashed her a thumbs up, Pyrrha joining in alongside her as a show of support. 

“Yang,” Blake said, deciding to be the one to start. Only for Yang to stifle a laugh, causing her to laugh as well. “Everyday I wake up to your snoring-“ they both cut themselves off with a laugh, “and I bet that would bother a lot of people, but it’s somewhat of a comfort for me now because when I hear it I know you’re right next to me.”

The blonde cracked a smile, eyes showing that she hadn’t expected that. 

“You’ve been with me since we were eighteen... and we’ve been through _so much_ together. It’s honestly hard to believe that it was ten years ago when I leaned out of Velvet’s dorm window and saw you lying in the grass like an idiot.” They both laughed again. 

“You are... my _best friend_ , my girlfriend, one of the _only_ people who’s always been there for me... and I love you more than I thought I could ever love anyone. And I don’t tell you that enough.”

Yang chuckled, sheepishly scratching behind her neck as she looks down at her feet. She looked back at Weiss, grinning. “She didn’t write any of that did she?”

“No, but that was honestly better than what she had written.”

Yang bit her tongue between her teeth, debating what she would say in her head. Blake wondered what she had written, if she had written anything at all or if she just wanted to speak from the heart.

“Blake, you’re somehow always leaving me speechless,” Yang laughed as she scratched her cheek. “Seriously, I have no clue what to say now, but you do that everyday. You could do something simple like smile or laugh- or that thing you do when you click your tongue whilst looking for something.”

“All of those cute little things just make me smile because I know that you’re happy. Content to just go about your day... because there was a time when it was hard for you to do that. And I wanted more than anything to take all of that pain away.”

Blake bit her lip, her chest tightening as she felt a few tears prick at her eyes. She abstained from crying to save her makeup.

“But now, I get to spend everyday making you happy, even if it sometimes doesn’t work out that way and you want to kill me,” She chuckled, the grin on her face soft and genuine. “I wouldn’t want it any other way, because I love you.”

They both swivelled their heads around to see Kali, balling her eyes out, making them both smile fondly. Even if Blake felt a twinge of guilt for moving her mother to tears.

“Uh, can I have the rings please,” the officiant said, rather awkwardly at that. Ruby bounced up, offering the rings to both Yang and Blake, who took a short moment of giggling to place the ring on each other’s fingers.

“By the power vested in me I now pronounce you wife and wife, you now-“

They didn’t wait for the officiant to finish, with Blake grabbing Yang’s jaw and Yang gripping the back of Blake’s neck to finally close the gap between them. They chuckled at the round of applause and whistles they got from their friends and family. 

* * *

It was after the toasts when the food started rolling out that they both decided that Weiss hadn’t done as good of a job as they thought she had. Mostly because their food consisted of things that, for some weird reason, made Blake feel nauseous during her pregnancy. 

So instead of persevere, they slipped out into the reception area, where they had ordered burgers to the hotel. The hotel workers laughed at them as they sat on the sofas in the reception area, scarfing down their food. 

“Of course this is what our wedding would be like,” Yang said, chuckling as she sipped her soda, playfully nudging Blake’s arm with her elbow. “It’s the universe’s way of telling us that we’re both clowns.”

“You don’t need to go teetotal with me, by the way. You can get a drink, it’s our wedding day.”

“You just want some of my soda don’t you?” Yang grinned, shaking her cup at Blake. The raven haired girl bit back a smile. “You could’ve just said,” she laughed, shaking her head as she offered the drink over to Blake.

“I felt bad, the only reason we’re out here is because I couldn’t eat the food.”

“Blake, when I say _we_ are pregnant, I mean that if you can’t eat or drink something for the next nine months then neither can I.”

“Stop, I’ll cry if you remind me-“

“ _I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU TWO!_ ” Weiss yelled as she stormed down the corridor, her heels clicking off of the tiled floors. Both Blake and Yang began laughing, looking at each other in shared amusement.

“I went through all of that trouble for _your_ wedding food and you’re out here eating fucking _Wendy’s_!” Weiss yelled, causing Yang to snort and go into another fit of laughter, Blake following after her. Weiss glared at the hotel workers who were also laughing now.

“Weiss, you know how I’m pregnant and I can’t eat certain things?” Blake asked, trying to recompose herself. Whilst she did that, Yang began gathering up their empty burger wrappers, shoving them into the brown paper bag. Weiss nodded, crossing her arms across her chest. “I can’t eat shellfish or cured meat, plus tomatoes make me nauseous for some reason. Your menu is exclusively made up of shellfish, cured meat and tomatoes.”

“Why didn’t you just get steak?”

“Because I was craving Wendy’s...” Blake said, shrugging. Yang just sat beside her, arm slung around her waist and nodding in agreement with Blake. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Weiss stood up straight and pointed to the two of them. “Five minutes then you’ve both got to be back in there to cut the cake then for your first dance, verstehst du?”

“Shut up, its our wedding day-“

“ _Blake!_ ”

Blake groaned but was inevitably swayed by Yang to actually finish their obligations. 

* * *

“Don’t you dare!”

“You started it!” Yang yelled, laughing as she tossed a tiny piece of cake at Blake’s face in retaliation for Blake doing it first. Maybe they were too childish to get married, or maybe everyone else was doing it wrong and this was the fun part.

Because it was fun, Blake thought, and weddings weren’t supposed to be fun. They were supposed to be this big extravagant day meant for photos and to say ‘ _yeah, I’m married now_ ’. But they had somehow managed to turn it into the most unconventional wedding ever. Blake couldn’t say it was a bad thing, today was arguably the best day of her life.

Blake took Yang’s hand as they moved into the centre of the room, commencing their first dance. Then Yang began to laugh, dipping her head down to rest it on Blake’s shoulder, turning her head to kiss her jaw.

“I’ve forgotten the dance,” Yang whispered into the shell of Blake’s ear.

“So have I,” Blake whispered back before they, yet again, broke into a fit of laughter. They both continued to laugh, a pleasant song created on this day, drawing smiles from everyone around them. Because there was a genuine happiness within their stupidity. Something about the way things kept screwing up today seeming to be just their luck; something that could only happen to them.

“Blake, can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Did you ever doubt we would get this far?”

Blake considered the question for a moment, gently stroking Yang’s neck as they swayed in time with the music. She considered all of their arguments, stupid and real, really took her time with the question and took everything into account.

“Sometimes, yeah,” she said, an honest answer. “Like that time we got into that argument over me accidentally dying your white shirts blue in the washing machine.”

“Or the time I threw some of your old books into the trash because we needed to make some space.”

“Or literally a month ago when I texted my mom saying ‘the wedding’s off, I can’t marry a woman who is already married to her job’.” They both laughed quietly. It was nice, to be stuck in their own little bubble, even if it was just for a while. “But I realised that we’re always going to argue over stupid bullshit, everyone does.”

“Yeah...”

“It doesn’t mean I love you any less.”

“Thank god for that,” Yang says as she chuckles, “because we’re kind of married now.”

“What about you? Are you glad you ended up here, with me?” Blake asked, nervous of the answer but knowing deep down what it was.

“I wish we would’ve got to this part sooner, we certainly could have if... _y’know.”_

“Yeah.”

“I’m still glad we’re here though, I would’ve been kicking myself forever if you would’ve ended up with someone else,” Yang chuckled dryly. Blake hummed, agreeing with and acknowledging the sentiment before turning to drop a kiss on Yang’s cheek. She waved her hand, motioning that their dance was over. She didn’t want people to keep watching them talking, and she was fairly certain they were bored of watching them swaying as they conversed. 

Yang brought her head back from Blake’s shoulder to rest their foreheads together, which would no doubt mess up their makeup but they didn’t really care at this point.

“You know you’re the love of my life, don’t you?” Yang said, her voice shaky as tears gathered at the edge of her lilac eyes. Blake nodded and lifted her hand up to cradle one side of Yang’s jaw. “Yes, but why are you crying?”

“I really don’t know, I’m just- I’m just _really happy_ right now.”

“And here I thought I was supposed to be the hormonal and emotional one,” Blake said, pulling a bubbly laugh from Yang, who’s eyelashes fluttered as she looked down towards the floor. “It’s okay if you wanna cry, I’m here for you.”

“I know... you’re kind of like a concrete angel, babe.”

“What does that mean?” Blake laughed, raising an eyebrow at Yang.

“It means you’re really tough to crack but once you get through, you get to see all of the goodness in you.”

“It’s just because I save all of that goodness for you,” Blake said, winking at Yang before looking away. She gazed at the sea of people around them, all gathered in celebration of their relationship, which was awe inspiring when she really thought about it. “I still can’t believe you actually married me.”

“Why not?”

“You could’ve had anyone, like-like that fucking DJ, what’s her name?”

“Neon.”

“You could’ve had someone like _Neon_ ,” Blake says as she tucks a strand of hair behind Yang’s ear. “But you still chose me. High maintenance Blake Belladonna who’s done nothing but brought problems to you.”

“I don’t care, we get past everything else didn’t we.”

“We did,” Blake said, almost wistfully. Giggling as she slid their lips together. “Did I tell you that Sun sent me a text?”

”What’d he say?”

”He said ‘my condolences for the baby,” Blake says as she chuckles, thumb stroking over Yang’s cheek, wiping away a stray tear. “I told him that this was the good part.”

”You think so?”

”I know so,” Blake said, a tear slipping down her cheek now. Both them sobbing as they thought about what lay for them in the afterglow. “As long as we’re together, we’re at the good part.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this fic, it’s been wild and it’s definitely one of my favourites that I’ve written. 
> 
> So far, my plans for my next fic are in motion so look out for Menagerie Magazine whenever i so post it. 
> 
> But for now, thank you all for reading, any and all comments are welcome, and I’ll see you all in the next thing I write!
> 
> (Or come visit me at @hecticsugar on twitter, I’m always kicking about there, complaining about my life)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading the first chapter, please let me know if this is wayyyyy too out there because I’m not one for controversy and it just kinda... was something I thought would be fun to write. Feedback would be great, but aside from that, until next time folks!


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